Local Water Harveting Tanks - Oorani

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Ooranis - Ramanathapuram District India - Dhan Foundation
A word on Ramanathapuram District :
Ramanathapuram district is drought prone and water scarcity is the biggest problem here.

People migrate after January and return by August when the monsoon sets in. The northeast monsoon (September to November) is expected to bring maximum rain and usually chilli, cotton, onion and paddy are cultivated. Charcoal is produced in Ramanathapuram and adjacent Tuticorin districts. Agriculture, charcoal production and fishing in the coastal areas are the sources for livelihood of the people. There are some industries in nearby Virudhunagar district where people migrate for work. A good number of workers in hosiery and knitwear units of Tiruppur are from the district. Usually men go out in search of jobs and women, old people and children stay home.

Once upon a time the ooranis and tanks had been maintained by the people through a group of individuals chosen by the villagers and called kudimaramatthu . This practice stopped after the British regime took over.
Tanks and ooranis became Government property maintained by the Public Works Department. With the arrival of bore wells, the concept of conserving water through such water bodies was forgotten.
The ground water level plummeted and water turned saline. The Government-sponsored desalination plants in the district are insufficient to meet the demand.

Every village has one to three ooranis for drinking water, domestic water needs and livestock and temple pond. The main water source is rain, but the district falls in rain shadow belt with scanty rainfall.
People could at most store water in ooranis and tanks for three to six months a year.
Rest of the time women, girls and men must trek three to five kilometers every day in search of water. This affected their livelihood, health, and the education of girls. There are incidents of conflicts for drinking water among villages. On the other hand there are instances of sharing oorani water between villages. If an oorani is built, the water would be shared by about 500 families of three villages.

Most of the ooranis are either dilapidated or small. In some areas, the percolation rate of water is high because the base layer is sandy. If an oorani is renovated and technically modified, it would quench the people's thirst in three to four villages. Besides it would improve the quality of life. Girls could go to schools; women could finish their household chores faster and help in the fields. The search for water has affected health, education and livelihood. It is common to find men and women in the district spending a whole day in search of water. The family income is Rs.1, 500 to Rs. 2,500 a month and lower during the summer. People have to spend Rs.150 to Rs.250 on water every month.

You can also do it ….
To help save the lives of the Life saving Ooranis -
Kind hearted well-wishers -- Can sponsor an Oorani
Dhan Foundation - http://www.dhan.org/ooranis/districts.php

What is Roopantar ?

Roopantar in Hindi means transformation.
Every sixth human being on the earth is an Indian.
Despite being an immensely diverse and vibrant democracy, the problems and issues facing India are of continental proportions.
At the same time India also has a rich tradition of spirituality, religion, community, and of undying optimism in the face of tremendous odds and civilizational challenges.
Roopantar is an attempt to record some of my reflections on why as a Buddhist Indian I have undying optimism in the potential of my country.
Despite tremendous odds, Indian constitution guarantees to every individual the right to faith and the right to propagate faith.
Hinduism, Secularism, Islam, Christianity, Parsis, Jainism, Sikhism, Buddhists are all part of the tenacity of the Indian fabric.
India will always continue to confound simplistic solutions and the doom predictors.
This belief in the inherent capacity, the global and universal ideals, for which India need depend on no outside powers or conglomerations, is my belief in the inherent ability of this traditional land to surmount all odds.
Indians have never shirked sufferings, but have always given to the entire world, perennially valid ways of looking at human sufferings.
This is a unique Indian trait and the colour of Indian identity, the spirit of its great philosophers, rishis, manishis, the Indian manas.
What may be required at times, is for people to emerge who can truly represent India and its roots, in all vibrancy, to reflect all the brilliant colours of India.
The historical India, the spiritual India, the India that saw the ravages of colonialism, the India that seeks individual happiness in flourishing communities.
This is what I call Roopantar. Transformation.
Transformation of the seemingly ugly into beauty.