Veeramani and Vanitha, a couple living in Kothamangalam, Pudukkottai district, Tamil Nadu have created a rainwater harvesting system that not only helps them to irrigate their farm but also helped his entire village during a cyclone.Hailing from a remote village where people have to travel at least 1 km to fetch water, Veeramani'though of a better way to access water. In early 2018, he decided to restore a well in his house to harvest rainwater. Veeramani then devised a system where the rainwater landing on the roof of his house would get collected in the well through pipes. He also added a concrete frame around it.
Channels were also created on either side of the roof from where the water flows into the pipes and empties into the well, which has a capacity of 18,000 liters. He uses the water to irrigate the cultivation on his four-acre farm, and for household purposes. The whole system cost Rs 1.5 lakh.
However, the system was not a hit in the first attempt. “It took me more than three months to get the system right. When I first laid the concrete structure on the well, it developed cracks within one hour of rain. It was then that I decided to build three layers to drain the water into the well. I removed the concrete cover and constructed a frame lengthwise and around the circumference of the well-using metal rods. I covered it with cement and it finally worked,” says Veeramani.
“When cyclone Gaja hit his hometown, there was no power for two months in our town. All the motors stopped running. But this well was filled to the brim. Thirty families in our town were able to use the water from the well and it proved to be a savior,” says Veeramani.
Now, inspired by Veeramani, other houses have started harvesting rainwater in the village.
But when he started working on this, other villagers criticized him, says Vanitha. “Neighbours would come and chide Veeramani for ‘wasting’ his money on this system which they deemed a failure. But he was sure that this was the solution to our water woes,” she says, adding, “The same people came to us during the cyclone to fetch water, as there was no electricity and water supply for several days in the aftermath.”
This system also helped Veeramani harvest rainwater during the torrential rains in November 2021. His brother has also set up a similar system in another well on the farm.
“We had another well on our farmland which was closed for decades. My brother decided to open up the other well and use it to harvest rainwater. Both the wells are now full,” says Veeramani.
Since Pudukkottai faces a lot of water shortages, the only other alternative for farmers is to dig borewells. But most of the borewells have dried up and farmers have to dig deeper. This would cost them more than Rs 10 lakh as they’d have to dig as deep as 1,000 feet.
“I hope more people in my village practice rainwater harvesting. They will have an abundance of water if each one sets up this system at home. We wouldn’t have to depend on municipal water, which is erratic in its supply,” says Veeramani, who was even felicitated by the Collector for his novel system.