An irrigation tank or tank is an artificial reservoir of any size. In countries like Sri Lanka and India they are part of historic methods of harvesting and preserving rainwater, critical in regions without perennial water resources. A tank is often an earthen bund (embankment or levee) constructed across a long slope to collect and store surface water from the above catchment and by taking advantage of local topography. The water would be used primarily for agriculture and drinking water, but also for bathing and rituals. [1] The word tank is the English language substitute for several vernacular terms. [2]
Tank irrigation, or reservoir irrigation, utilizes tanks and connected sluices and channels to direct water to the crops. This surface irrigation method can be used to grow crops like rice. [3] Tank irrigation in Thailand is a newer method of irrigation as compared to peninsular India. [4] Similar small-scale reservoir based irrigation methods using earthen bunds are used in countries like Ghana. [5]
A tank cascade is a system of irrigation tanks in single or multiple chains where water from a higher tank flows into lower tanks. Examples of tank cascades include Sri Lanka's tank cascade system, [6] the Indian city of Bangalore's cascading lakes in the Varthur lake series, [7] and the Indian city of Madurai's Vandiyur tank cascade system. [8]
A tank consists of a shallow bed area near the inlet(s) and a relatively deeper bed area near the bund. [9] The inlet is fed by an upstream catchment area and stream or canals. [8] As part of an irrigation system, a number of sluices at the deeper bund area allows water to be fed into surface canals which distribute water to crops within the tank command area. [8] A surplus/waste weir or the overflow outlet allows water to drain into a downstream tank. [8]
The bund or embankment is an uneven bow or crescent-shaped structure. [3] Depending on the landscape the length could vary widely from two to many kilometers. The bund is a few meters high. [3] Irrigation tanks provide features that allow for other useful products such as fishes, grass, and silt. [10]
In India there are approximately 120,000 small-scale tanks, irrigating about 41,200 km² in semi-arid areas of India. [11] This constitutes about one third of the total irrigated land in South India. [12] The development of large-scale water management methods and hydroelectric generation have replaced much of the local efforts and community management of water. [13]
Ralegaon Siddhi is an example of a village that revitalised its ancient tank system. In 1975 the village was drought-stricken. The village tank could not hold water as the earthen embankment dam wall leaked. Work began with the percolation tank construction by the villagers to repair the embankment. Once this was fixed, the village's seven wells below the tank filled with water in the summer. Now the village has a supply of water throughout the year. [14]
In 2006 Sri Lanka had over 11,000 tanks. [15]
Other types of tanks in the subcontinent include temple tanks and stepwells. [16] Temple tanks are water storage tanks that combine the practical and sacred. [17] Many temple tanks are decaying and drying up today. [18] Since ancient times, the design of water storage has been important in Indian architecture. [19] Stepwells were often used for leisure, providing relief from daytime heat. This led to the building of some significant ornamental and architectural features, often associated with dwellings and in urban areas. It also ensured their survival as monuments. An example of the art of tank design is the large, geometrically spectacular stepped tank at Vijayanagara, the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire, surrounding the modern town of Hampi. [20]
Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is the collection and storage of rain, rather than allowing it to run off. Rainwater is collected from a roof-like surface and redirected to a tank, cistern, deep pit, aquifer, or a reservoir with percolation, so that it seeps down and restores the ground water. Rainwater harvesting differs from stormwater harvesting as the runoff is typically collected from roofs and other area surfaces for storage and subsequent reuse. Its uses include watering gardens, livestock, irrigation, domestic use with proper treatment, and domestic heating. The harvested water can also be used for long-term storage or groundwater recharge.
The Tungabhadra River starts and flows through the state of Karnataka, India, during most of its course, then through Andhra Pradesh, and ultimately joins the Krishna River near Murvakonda in Andhra Pradesh.
Dodda Basavana Gudi is situated in Bull Temple Road, Basavanagudi, area of South Bengaluru, part of the largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. The Hindu temple is inside a park called Bugle Rock.
Stepwells are wells, cisterns or ponds with a long corridor of steps that descend to the water level. Stepwells played a significant role in defining subterranean architecture in western India from the 7th to the 19th century. Some stepwells are multi-storeyed and can be accessed by a Persian wheel which is pulled by a bull to bring water to the first or second floor. They are most common in western India and are also found in the other more arid regions of the Indian subcontinent, extending into Pakistan. The construction of stepwells is mainly utilitarian, though they may include embellishments of architectural significance, and be temple tanks.
The ancient Sri Lankan people excelled in the construction of tanks (Wevas) or reservoirs, dagobas, and palaces in Sri Lanka, as evident from the ruins which displays a rich variety of architectural forms.
Vijayanagara architecture of 1336–1565 CE was a notable building idiom that developed during the rule of the imperial Hindu Vijayanagara Empire. The empire ruled South India, from their regal capital at Vijayanagara, on the banks of the Tungabhadra River in modern Karnataka, India. The empire built temples, monuments, palaces and other structures across South India, with the largest concentration in its capital. The monuments in and around Hampi, in the Vijayanagara district, are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The period of the Vijayanagara Empire is considered an age of prosperity in South India in the 14th century CE. Many travelogues written by visitors, ambassadors and authors of that time provide ample proof of a vibrant era. Agriculture was the main sustenance and the Tungabhadra was the life blood of the capital city.
A johad, also known as a pokhar or a percolation pond, is a community-owned traditional harvested rainwater storage wetland principally used for effectively harnessing water resources in the states of Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, and western Uttar Pradesh of North India, that collects and stores water throughout the year, to be used for the purpose of recharging the groundwater in the nearby water wells, washing, bathing and drinking by humans and cattle. Some johads also have bricked or stones masonry and cemented ghat.
Temple tanks are wells or reservoirs built as part of the temple complex near Indian temples. They are called pushkarini, kalyani, kunda, sarovara, tirtha, talab, pukhuri, ambalakkuḷam, etc. in different languages and regions of India. Some tanks are said to cure various diseases and maladies when bathed in. It is possible that these are cultural remnants of structures such as the Great Bath of Mohenjo-daro or Dholavira, which was part of the Indus Valley civilization. Some are stepwells with many steps at the sides.
Madiwala lake is one of the biggest lakes in Bangalore, India spread over an area of 114.3 hectare. The water in the lake was fit for drinking till the early 1990s. Since then it has become unfit for drinking due to industrial waste and sewage entering the waterbody. It has gradually become polluted.
Varthur is a suburb situated in the Eastern periphery of Bangalore City and part of the internationally famous Whitefield township. Varthur is a Hobli and part of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike. Varthur was a Legislative Assembly in the state of Karnataka but was split into three legislative assemblies C.V.Raman Nagar, Mahadevapura and Krishnarajapura in the year 2008. It is also one of the wards of BBMP. It is located in South-Eastern Bangalore between old Airport road and Sarjapur road. Varthur is very close to ITPB.
Lakes and tanks in the metropolitan area of Greater Bangalore and the district of Bangalore Urban are reservoirs of varying sizes constructed over a number of centuries by various empires and dynasties for rainwater harvesting. Historically, these reservoirs were primarily either irrigation tanks or for the water supply, with secondary uses such as bathing and washing. The need for creating and sustaining these man-made dammed freshwater reservoirs was created by the absence of a major river nearby coupled with a growing settlement. As Bangalore grew from a small settlement into a city, both of the primary historical uses of the tanks changed. Agricultural land witnessed urbanization and alternate sources of water were provisioned, such as through borewells, piped reservoir water and later river water from further away.
The irrigation works in ancient Sri Lanka were some of the most complex irrigation systems of the ancient world. The earliest examples of irrigation works in Sri Lanka date from about 430 BCE, during the reign of King Pandukabhaya, and were under continuous development for the next thousand years. In addition to constructing underground canals, the Sinhalese were the first to build completely artificial reservoirs to store water, referred to as tanks. The system was extensively restored and further extended during the reign of King Parākramabāhu.
The Bhadra Dam or Lakkavalli Dam, which has created the Bhadra Reservoir, is located on the Bhadra River a tributary of Tungabhadra River. Bhadra Dam is located in the border of Bhadravathi and Tarikere, in the western part of Karnataka in India. The benefits derived from the reservoir storage are irrigation with gross irrigation potential of 162,818 hectares, hydro power generation of 39.2 MW, drinking water supply and industrial use. The dam commissioned in 1965 is a composite earth cum masonry structure of 59.13 metres (194.0 ft) height with length of 1,708 metres (5,604 ft) at the crest level, which submerges a land area of 11,250.88 hectares.
Abhaya Wewa, historically Abhayavapi or Bassawakkulama reservoir, is a reservoir in Sri Lanka, built by King Pandukabhaya who ruled in Anuradhapura from 437 BC to 367 BC, after constructing the city.
The Government of India (GoI) constituted a common tribunal on 10 April 1969 to solve the river water utilization disputes about the river basin states of Godavari and Krishna rivers under the provisions of Interstate River Water Disputes Act – 1956. The common tribunal was headed by Sri RS Bachawat as its chairman with Sri DM Bhandari and Sri DM Sen as its members. Godavari river basin spreads through the states of Telangana (TS), Maharashtra (MR), Orissa, old Madhya Pradesh {later bifurcated into present Madhya Pradesh (MP) and Chhattisgarh}, Karnataka (K) and Andhra Pradesh (AP). Krishna river basin states Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh insisted on the quicker verdict as it had become more expedient for the construction of irrigation projects in Krishna basin. So the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal (GWDT) could not proceed till the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal final verdict was submitted to GoI on 27 May 1976.
The Rambakan Oya Dam is an embankment dam in Maha Oya, Eastern Province, Sri Lanka. The reservoir was designed and constructed by the Sri Lanka Mahaveli Authority and currently functions under the direction of the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources Management. It has been created by building an Earthen dam which is about 1,225m in length across the Mundeni Aru river.
Iranamadu Tank is an irrigation tank in northern Sri Lanka, approximately 3 mi (5 km) south east of Kilinochchi.
The tank cascade system is an ancient irrigation system spanning the island of Sri Lanka. It is a network of thousands of small irrigation tanks draining to large reservoirs that store rainwater and surface runoff for later use. They make agriculture possible in the dry-zone, where periods of drought and flooding otherwise make it difficult to support paddy fields and livestock.
Padaviya is a historic town in the Anuradhapura District of the North Central Province, Sri Lanka.