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Irrigation tank or tank, in India, is an earthen bound reservoir, constructed across a slope, used to collect and store water by taking advantage of local mounds and depressions. Tanks are part of an ancient tradition of harvesting and preserving the local rainfall and water from streams and rivers for later use, primarily for agriculture.[1] This is especially critical in parts of South India without perennial rainfall but instead dependent on the cycle of a dry season alternating with monsoon seasons.
This is the original meaning of the word "tank": see Storage tank#Etymology.
[edit] Temple tanks
Tanks (or kunds[2]) are often found in ancient temples, especially is South India. Bathing in the sacred waters of a temple tank was believed to relieve worshippers of afflictions such as leprosy and blindness.[3] Many temple tanks are decaying and drying up today.[4]
[edit] Water gauge
In fifteenth century Korea the world's first water gauge, woo ryang gyae (Korean:우량계), was invented in 1441AD. The inventor was Jang Young Sil, a Korean inventor and engineer of the Choson Dynasty, under the direction of King Se Jong. It was installed in irrigation tanks as part of a nationwide system to measure and collect rainfall for agricultural applications. With this instrument, planners and farmers could make better use of the information gathered in the survey.[5]
[edit] Modern tank management
The development of large-scale water management methods and hydroelectric generation have replaced much of the local efforts and community management of water. For example, the state of Karnataka has about 44,000 man-made wetlands locally constructed over many centuries. At least 328 are threatened today.[6]
However, recently a tank regeneration movement initiated by communities and non-governmental organisations (NGO) has arisen.[7] Today, there are approximately 120,000 small-scale tanks, irrigating about 4.12 million ha. in semi-arid areas of India.[8] This constitutes about one third of the total irrigated land in South India.[9]
[edit] See also
- Noyyal River - Tanks System
- Irrigation
[edit] Notes
- ^ Tank management. rainwaterharvesting.org. Retrieved on 2006-10-17.
- ^ Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent - glossary. Indian Architecture. Retrieved on 2006-10-17.
- ^ Sun Temples in India. TempleNet. Retrieved on 2006-10-17.
- ^ Ponds, tanks relics of a bygone era. AmritsarPlus Online Edition. Retrieved on 2006-10-17.
- ^ Woong-Jin-Wee-In-Jun-Gi #11 Jang Young Sil by Baek Sauk Gi. Copyright 1987 Woongjin Publishing Co., Ltd.
- ^ Bird monitoring at Rampura and Kalkere tanks. aroche.org. Retrieved on 2006-10-17.
- ^ Tank management. rainwaterharvesting.org. Retrieved on 2006-10-17.
- ^ Towards improved performance of irrigation tanks in semi-arid regions of India. cat.inist.fr. Retrieved on 2006-10-17.
- ^ Sustainable development and management of tank irrigation systems in south India. cat.inist.fr. Retrieved on 2006-10-17.
