Our traditional water harvesting structures demonstrate the people's ingenuity at its best. Using unique modes and basic engineering skills, Indians have developed a wide array of techniques for satisfying their thirstIndia has an extraordinary diversity of agro-ecological systems, ranging from the hot desert of Rajasthan to the cold desert of trans-Himalayan Ladakh, from the sub-temperate Himalayan mountains to the high tropical mountains in the south; interspersed are various hill and mountain ranges, plateaus and the unique Indo-Gangetic plains which are more flood-prone than any other part in the world.

Hill areas: convenient modes
Traditionally, wherever there were streams, especially in the hill and mountain regions of India, people diverted the water with the help of simple engineering structures, into artificial channels that would take the water to agricultural fields. In arid and semi-arid regions, where streams were more seasonal, the diversion channels were first directed into a storage structure