| The paper was presented at the 31th Annual
Convention of the Indian Water Works Association at
Lucknow, UP , on 11-13 February , 1999. It is included in
the proceedings of the convention. Abstract
The definition of “tanker
villages” applies to those water scarcity villages
supplied by
water tankers during the dry season (March-May). These
villages are a heavy yearly
burden on the Indian government budget. The paper is an
attempt to contribute some ideas to solving the problems
related to "tanker
villages" and hilltop villages, with special
reference to the northern talukas of Thana
District. The area is well known to the author, who,
since many years, is involved in the drilling of
boreholes for Adivasi villages in that area.
Various alternative techniques to develop water resources
for such villages have been considered. These include the
following :groundwater recharge; development of
artificial aquifers by constructing subsurface or sand
storage dams; construction of infiltration galleries to
tap the underground flow of ephermeal rivers; development
of springs and seepages; various rain harvesting
techniques ( roof, paved ground, rock catchments). The
paper also emphasizes the importance of carrying out an
inventory of water resources and the design a water
development plan for each taluka.
In additional, the paper focuses on the need to improve
the technical abilities of the personnel who are involved
in the implementation of water works. To this aspect, the
creation of specialised institutes to teach young
professionals on diversified water development aspects by
technologies, appropriate to the natural conditions, is
recommended. Networking and interchange of information
through seminars, workshops, and regional conferences
will surely help in spreading the information and
stimulating the interest for further research.
|