In India, small water reservoirs in the desert area are a part of a complex inter-linking natural resource management system. Traditional methods of water harvesting were employed by the local communities led by TBS to rejuvenate a local river, recharge the ground water and re-green a village. In Alwar district, 8600 small water harvesting talabs in 1086 villages have been built since 1985.

Our journey of rural uplift started on October 2, 1985, when along with three others, I went to live in a village in Alwar, Rajasthan. I had quit my job as a national service volunteer at Jaipur. It was then that we realised that the real need of people was water. The people in this region had a symbiotic relationship with their natural resources and a rich tradition of rainwater harvesting.

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The Rajasthan government believes that it has a right over every raindrop and makes a move to demolish a water harvesting structure set up by local people to meet their water requirements