The Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert, is an arid region in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent that covers an area of 200,000 km2 (77,000 sq mi) in India and Pakistan. It is the world's 18th-largest desert, and the world's 9th-largest hot subtropical desert.
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 committed to longer-term storage or groundwater recharge.
Churu is a city in the desert region of Rajasthan state of India. It is known as the gateway to the Thar Desert of Rajasthan. It is the administrative headquarter of Churu District. It lies in the Thar Desert on the National Highway 52 connecting Sangrur to Ankola and is a junction station on the railway line to Bikaner. It is near the shifting sand dunes of the Thar Desert and has grand havelis with marvelous fresco paintings, namely Kanhaiya Lal Bagla Ki Haweli and Surana Haweli, with hundreds of small windows. It also has some fine Chhatris. Near the town is a religious seat of the Nath sect of Sadhus where there are life-size marble statues of their deities and a place for prayers. At the center of the town is a fort built about 500 years ago.
A cistern is a space excavated in bedrock or soil designed for catching and storing water. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster.
The Indira Gandhi Canal is the longest canal in India. It starts at the Harike Barrage near Harike, a few kilometers downriver from the confluence of the Satluj and Beas rivers in Punjab state, and ends in irrigation facilities in the Thar Desert in the northwest of Rajasthan state. Previously known as the Rajasthan Canal, it was renamed the Indira Gandhi Canal on 2 November 1984 following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
The Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI) is one of the biggest research institutes of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), an autonomous organization working under the aegis of the Department of Agriculture Research and Education (DARE) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare of Government of India. CAZRI has the distinction of being one of the first institutes in the world exclusively devoted to arid zone research and development. The institute made a humble beginning in 1952 when Government of India initiated Desert Afforestation Research Station at Jodhpur to carry out research on sand dune stabilization and for establishment of shelter belt plantations to arrest wind erosion. It was reorganized as Desert Afforestation and Soil Conservation Station in 1957 and finally in its present form Central Arid Zone Research Institute in 1959 on recommendation of the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) expert, Prof. C.S. Christian of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia. In 1966, the institute was brought under the administrative control of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi.
Rajendra Singh is an Indian water conservationist and environmentalist from Alwar district, Rajasthan in India. Also known as "waterman of India", he won the Magsaysay Award in 2001 and Stockholm Water Prize in 2015. He runs an NGO called 'Tarun Bharat Sangh' (TBS), which was founded in 1975. The NGO based in village hori-Bhikampura in Thanagazi tehsil, near Sariska Tiger Reserve, has been instrumental in fighting the slow bureaucracy, mining lobby and has helped villagers take charge of water management in their semi-arid area as it lies close to Thar Desert, through the use of johad, rainwater storage tanks, check dams and other time-tested as well as path-breaking techniques. Starting from a single village in 1985, over the years TBS helped build over 8,600 johads and other water conservation structures to collect rainwater for the dry seasons, has brought water back to over 1,000 villages and revived five rivers in Rajasthan, Arvari, Ruparel, Sarsa, Bhagani and Jahajwali. He is one of the members of the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA) which was set up in 2009, by the Government of India as an empowered planning, financing, monitoring and coordinating authority for the Ganges (Ganga), in exercise of the powers conferred under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. In the UK he is a founder member of an NGO called the Flow Partnership which aims to counter the negative effects of soil erosion and flooding.
A rainwater tank is a water tank used to collect and store rain water runoff, typically from rooftops via pipes. Rainwater tanks are devices for collecting and maintaining harvested rain. A rainwater catchment or collection system can yield 2,358 litres (623 US gal) of water from 2.54 cm (1.00 in) of rain on a 92.9 m2 (1,000 sq ft) roof.
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 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. The word tank is the English language substitute for several vernacular terms.
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.
In 2020, 97.7% of Indians had access to the basic water and sanitation facilities. India faces challenges ranging from sourcing water for its megacities to its distribution network which is intermittent in rural areas with continuous distribution networks just beginning to emerge. Non-revenue water is a challenge.
Desert greening is the process of afforestation or revegetation of deserts for ecological restoration (biodiversity), sustainable farming and forestry, but also for reclamation of natural water systems and other ecological systems that support life. The term "desert greening" is intended to apply to both cold and hot arid and semi-arid deserts. It does not apply to ice capped or permafrost regions. It pertains to roughly 32 million square kilometres of land. Deserts span all seven continents of the Earth and make up nearly a fifth of the Earth's landmass, areas that recently have been increasing in size.
ICAR-National Research Centre on Camel, Bikaner, is a Premier Research Centre located at Bikaner city of Rajasthan. Considering the importance of camel in the socio-economic development of arid and semi-arid zones, the Government of India established a Project Directorate on Camel at Bikaner (India) on 5 July 1984 under aegis of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) which was upgraded to National Research Centre on Camel (NRCC) on 20 September 1995. It is located in the Jorbeer area of Bikaner city which is about 8 km from Bikaner main city. Mandates of this institute are 1. Basic and applied research for improvement camel health and production; 2. Information repository on camel research and development; and 3. Development of camel eco-tourism. This centre is also known as 'Camel Farm' among the local people. The camel farm maintains an elite herd of more than 300 camels of Bikaneri, Jaisalmeri, Kachchhi and Mewari breeds.
Tarun Bharat Sangh (TBS) is a non-profitable environmental NGO; with its headquarters in Bheekampura, Alwar, Rajasthan. Rajendra Singh has been the incumbent chairman of TBS since 1985. TBS started their work with mobilizing communities around the issue of water, and supporting them in reviving and revitalising the traditional systems of water management through construction of johads, anicuts, and bunds for rainwater harvesting from shramdan and partly by TBS. TBS has built on existing cultural traditions of the area to revive the feeling of oneness with nature which existed in the village communities and to create an understanding and ethos of integrated ecosystem development. At present, the contribution of the organisation is spread around 1000 villages of 15 districts of the state of Rajasthan. The organisation has rejuvenated and revived 11 rivers in the state of Rajasthan naming, Ruparel, Sarsa, Arvari, Bhagani, Jahajwali, Shabi, and has established about 11,800 johads. As a result of these contributions TBS was awarded with Stockholm Water Prize in 2015. Presently, TBS’ focus rests upon access to water by rejuvenation of water resources, tackling issues like human and wildlife conflicts, and combating the mining mafias for the benefit of the local community located there.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Rajasthan:
A Liman in Israel is the name for an artificial earthen construction used to collect floodwater by damming a desert wadi. The runoff water is slowed by the dam, thus flooding a small area and allowing the water to infiltrate into the soil. This way, a small groves of trees can be sustained in the desert. The JNF-KKL has been funding the construction of limans in the Negev Desert.
Arid Forest Research Institute (ICFRE-AFRI) is a research institute situated in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India. The institute conducts scientific research in forestry in order to provide technologies to increase the vegetative cover and to conserve biodiversity in the hot arid and semi-arid regions of Rajasthan and Gujarat. It helps to provide data and information to prevent and mitigate water scarcity related problems which affect the environment and people. It operates under the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India.
The climate of Rajasthan in northwestern India is generally arid or semi-arid and features fairly hot temperatures over the year with extreme temperatures in both summer and winter. The hottest months are May and June. The monsoon season is from July to September; however, rainfall remains moderate.
Derasar is a village in the Barmer district of Rajasthan, near the border of India and Pakistan. Derasar lies within the Thar Desert, which influences the lives of the residents; taankas are used to collect water and husbands have two wives, one of whom devotes herself to collecting water from a nearby water source five kilometres away from the village. The culture of Derasar reflects that of the region of Rajputana within the Indian subcontinent, such as the wearing of the angarkha.
The tank cascade system is an ancient Sri Lankan irrigation infrastructure. The system is a network of small tanks draining to large reservoirs that store rainwater and surface runoff for later use. Originating in the 1st millennium BCE, the system was designated as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in 2017. Centralized bureaucratic management of large-scale systems was implemented from the 3rd to the 13th centuries.
