Management of traditional water system and their conservation in North Eastern Region through local traditional wisdom

Abstract

The North Eastern Region covers seven states of India and also called as 'Land of the Seven Sisters'. North Eastern Region is bounded between North Latitudes 21o 57' & 29o 28' and East Longitudes 89o 40' & 97o 25' with the geographical area of 2.55 lakh sq.km [10]. Hill ranges occupy about 70% of the total geographical area. The region has two principal drainage systems viz. Brahmaputra and Meghna. North Eastern Region is characterized by tropical monsoon climate with a rainy summer and dry winter, with annual rainfall (mm) 1857.2, while in India is 1083.2 [6]. The availability of net ground water in NER is 40.35048 bcm [5]. Geological Formations encountered in the North Eastern Region range in age from Archaean to Recent. The major soil type of the NER is red loams, lateritic and soil of alluvium deposit. Water supply of North Eastern Region is dependent on both Surface and Ground Water. Based on the ground water occurrence and movement, hydrogeology of the region can be broadly grouped into a) Porous and b) Fissured formations. Water is one key input to agriculture for obtaining high yield for any crop. The popular irrigation system e.g. Gravity / Flow, Lift, Drip and Ground Water Irrigation in NER are directly depends on revival of traditional wisdom. Based on long experiences under existing soil and climatic conditions as well as availability of large number of springs, farmers in certain areas have developed typical systems of water management, which are very effective under the existing condition of topography and terrain. Some of these systems are bamboo drip irrigation in Meghalaya, Cheo-oziihi, Zabo in Nagaland, Apatani, Yetbung Linganag and Linkun in Arunachal Pradesh, Dongs, Dungs / Jampois in Assam etc. The study was done to analyses the effect of traditional system and culture associated with it for ground water management & revival of traditional wisdom in North Eastern Region.