Arvary Pani Sansad
Also called: Arvari River Parliament · Topic: Water Resources of India: Availability, Use and Conservation · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 4 "Water Resources"
Meaning
Arvary Pani Sansad means "Arvari water parliament". It is a council of villages along the Arvari river in Alwar district, Rajasthan. The villagers worked with the voluntary group Tarun Bharat Sangh to build johads, which are crescent-shaped earthen check dams or dug-out ponds that hold rainwater. These helped bring the dried-up Arvari back to life. In 1999 the villages formed the Sansad to make their own rules on how the river's water is used and protected. It shows that communities can manage water well.
Example
In Alwar, Rajasthan, the Arvary Pani Sansad decides local rules on using and saving river water. Alwar's johads and Ralegan Siddhi in Maharashtra are the standard examples of community water management.
Don't confuse with
- Ralegan Siddhi: it is a single village in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, where Anna Hazare led watershed work from 1975. The Arvary Pani Sansad is a council shared by many villages along one river.
Related concepts
- Rainwater harvesting
- Rooftop rainwater harvesting
- Shillong rooftop rainwater harvesting
- Tamil Nadu rainwater harvesting mandate
- Watershed management
- Check dam
- Percolation tank
- Haryali
- Ralegan Siddhi