Ahar-pyne
Topic: Water Resources of India: Availability, Use and Conservation · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 1 "The Story of Indian Farming"
Meaning
Ahar-pyne is a traditional floodwater harvesting system of south Bihar. Pynes are channels that carry river water away from the river. Ahars are basins with earthen banks on three sides. The pynes fill the ahars, and the stored water then irrigates paddy. It suits south Bihar, where the land slopes and the soil cannot hold much water. Rain there is uneven, so storing floodwater keeps crops alive in dry spells.
Example
In the districts of south Bihar, south of the Ganga, villages have used pynes to bring monsoon river water into ahars for growing paddy.
Don't confuse with
- Eri: these are chained tanks in Tamil Nadu that store runoff. Ahar-pyne relies on channels that divert river water into embanked basins.
Related concepts
- Ancient hydraulic structures of India
- Kallanai
- Traditional water harvesting systems
- Guls and kuls
- Inundation channels
- Khadin
- Johad
- Taanka
- Kund
- Eri