History of groundwater development in the Indian Himalayas: past, present and future scenarios

摘要

Since time immemorial, civilizations (Indus Valley, Mesopotamian, etc.) have flourished in and around rivers or water bodies, and the same at the time of flooding/flash flooding has been the cause of their destruction. The present paper highlights the history of groundwater development in the mountains of the Indian Himalayas. The attempt is based on studying the groundwater structures developed by our ancestors since time immemorial in the form of identifying and protecting natural springs. Later, wells dug initially in the inter mountain valley region gradually shifted to the peaks of mountains in the form of manually digging wells for the forts constructed in the 16th century. Sustainability of the water source in the forts had to be developed for 24 × 365 hours per year. There was gradual transformation from exploring wells in the inter mountain valley regions to the top of the mountain, and this transformation could be related to the flash flooding activity in the past which might have washed out the major civilization/societies/kingdoms located on the banks of rivers or in the inter mountain valley regions.