Surangam
In News
- The karez system in Afghanistan, a legacy of its Persian cultural moorings, has suffered extensive damage in 43 years of war and stares at an uncertain future under the Taliban’s second regime.
- But hundreds of miles to the south, a similar system in southern India is thriving.
Surangam- Traditional Water Management System
- Surangam is basically a tunnel dug through a laterite hillock from the periphery of which water and moisture seeps out. This system has been very effectively used for domestic and agriculture purposes in dry areas of northern Malabar.
- Surangams resemble karez both in structure and spread.
- These are similar to qanats which once existed in Mesopotamia and Babylon around 700 Before Common Era.
- By 714 BCE, this technology had spread to Egypt, Persia and India.
- The surangam or suranga is today usually found in northern Kerala and southern Karnataka.
|
Region |
Traditional Water Management |
|
Ladakh |
Zing |
|
Himachal Pradesh |
Kul, Naula, Kuhl, Khatri |
|
Eastern Himalaya |
Apatani |
|
Nagaland |
Zabo |
|
Brahmaputra Valley |
Dongs / Dungs/ Jampois |
|
Indo-Gangetic Plains |
Ahars – Pynes, Bengal’s Inundation Channels, Dighis, Baolis |
|
Thar Desert |
Kunds, Kuis/beris, Baoris / Ber/ Jhalaras, Nadi, Tobas, Tankas, Khandins, Vav/Bavadi, Virdas, Paar |
|
Central Highlands |
Talab, Bandhis, Saza Kuva, Johads, Naada/Bandh, Pat, Rapat, Chandela Tank, Bundela Tank |
|
Eastern Highlands |
Katas / Mundas / Bandhas |
|
Deccan Plateau |
Cheruvu, Kohli Tanks, Bhandaras, Phad, Kere, The Ramtek Model |
|
Western Ghats |
Surangam |
|
West Coastal Plains |
Virdas |
|
Eastern Ghats |
Korambu |
|
Eastern Coastal Plains |
Eri / Ooranis |
|
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands |
Jack Wells |
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