RAIN WATER HARVESTING IN NORTH EAST STATES: MIZORAM AND MANIPUR
Rainwater harvesting is a means of taking water out of the hydrological cycle for either human or agricultural use. The rainfall is intercepted and collected on prepared watersheds.
Basically, there are two types of rainwater harvesting schemes - those designed for agricultural use and those designed for human use. Rainwater catchment schemes intended for agricultural use require large catchment areas. In this case, use of the ground surface is the obvious choice. However, water for human use should be more convenient and cleaner than water for agricultural use. Roofs are an obvious choice for a catchment surface as their elevation protects them from contamination and damage which are common to ground surface catchments. Tanks located close to homes highlight the convenience of this system..
Besides, small scale RWH does not involve the existing water right. And it has become one of the economical and practical measures for providing supplementary water supplies with its easy system installation. It can be a supplementary water source in urbanized regions for miscellaneous household uses such as toilet flushing, lawn watering, landscape and ecological pools.
In many developing countries, it even serves as a major water supply source. Other than storing rain water for later uses, it is also capable of providing some detention capacity for flood attenuations in some regions . Rainwater harvesting system has been regarded as a sound strategy of alternative water sources for increasing water supply capacities.
Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) is one of the optional reforms under JNNURM ( Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission ) and the main objective behind making RWH mandatory in all building is to recharge ground water aquifers or to store rain water for direct use by occupants of the buildings.