Kolar District

Centuries old dried up water tanks have been revived with the combined efforts of the local community and the authorities.

This document on the study conducted by IWMI on the Carewater site aimed at understanding the economic and social burden experienced by people afflicted with contamination of water due to higher percentages

Waternama is a collection of traditional practices for water conservation and management in Karnataka. The book is produced by Communication for Development and Learning and edited by Sandhya Iyengar.
View/download the full book (29.2 MB)

In 1991, MYRADA and the International Institute for Rural Reconstruction (IIRR), Philippines, with support from Ford Foundation, initiated a research-cum-action project in partnership with the farmers of Kamasamudram in Kolar district of Karnataka. MYRADA had already been working in these villages for several years and was familiar with the local people.

As ground water levels decline in India, Persian Wheels cannot reach the water to draw them out from open wells. One such Persian wheel stands forlorn and frustrated as the water table has dipped in Kolar, Karnataka India. This wheel has worked for the last 80 years and 2007 was the first time that the water table fell and the wheel could not work for the day.

What exactly is a Persian wheel? Also known as Rahat (in Urdu), it's a simple water lifting device, where a number of small pots are attached to a long chain. Two gear wheels make up the system and as the first one is revolved, the pots each dip and swallow water from the well and soon after pours itself out to a metallic shaft which in turns empties into an intricate network of troughs that distributes water adequately through the cropped area. It is believed that the technology originated in Egypt and as world shrunk through extensive trading, it spread to India and China.