India restores ancient water systems (stepwells)

Communities across India are restoring centuries-old water-harvesting structures - stepwells (baoris), johads, tankas, kunds and similar works - to tackle worsening groundwater shortages and climate-driven rainfall patterns. Restored monuments such as Moosi Rani Sagar in Alwar and Toorji Ka Jhalra in Jodhpur now hold tens of feet of water again after desilting and community-led repairs, because these designs intentionally slow surface runoff so rain can percolate into aquifers. Unlike modern open reservoirs and borewells that lose water to evaporation or withdraw without replenishing, these buried or stepped systems keep water cool, accessible to wells and handpumps, and recharged across whole watersheds at low cost.

Neglect rooted in colonial disruption and a post-independence push for large dams left many structures silted and governance absent, but grassroots revivals have proved scalable and measurable: Rajendra Singh’s johad programme helped refill wells and restore perennial flow to the Arvari River, 10,000 harvesting structures between 1994-2007 benefited about 250 villages, Marathwada projects created over 550 billion litres of storage, and national policy now promotes mass recharge. Government targets and programmes since 2019-2020 aim for millions of recharge works, with national recharge from tanks and ponds rising from 14 to 25 billion cubic metres between 2017 and 2024, while communities stress the need for regular desilting and multiple structures to sustain gains.