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A taanka or paar, is a traditional rainwater harvesting technique, common to the Thar desert region of Rajasthan, India.[1] It is meant to provide drinking water and water security for a family or a small group of families. A taanka is composed of a covered, underground, impermeable cistern on shallow ground for the collection of rainwater. The cistern is generally constructed out of stone or brick masonry, or concrete, with lime mortar or cement plaster. Rainwater or surface run-off from rooftops, courtyards, or artificially prepared catchments (locally called agor) flow into the tank through filtered inlets in the wall of the pit.[2][3]
The water stored saves people from the daily task of walking long distances to fetch water from sources which are often contaminated. The water in a taanka is usually only used for drinking. If any year there was less than normal rainfall and household tanka do not get filled, water would instead be obtained from nearby wells and tanks to fill the tanks.
- ^ Rainwater harvesting in rural India - taankas in the Thar Desert, by Megan Konar, Waterlines, Volume 25, Number 4, April 2007, pp. 22-24(3). Publisher: Practical Action Publishing.
- ^ Rainwater Harvesting Structures: 1: Taanka Indian Villages 2020 (in 2 Volumes)vision And Mission (vol. 1)strategies And Suggested Development Models (vol 2), Y.P. Singh (ed.). Concept Publishing Company, 2006. ISBN 818069321X. Page 421 .
- ^ Community initiatives in capturing rain through terrain-specific technologies: examples from India IWA International Water Association website