ABSTRACT
In many regions of the world, particularly those with monsoon climate, rainfall is confined to three or four months in a year. Consequently, from time immemorial, many cultures practiced the collection, storage, treatment and distribution and use of rainwater and other forms of precipitation (e.g. fog drip and dew are collected in Namibia). During 3000 – 1500B.C, Dholavira, a major site of the Indus valley civilization, had several reservoirs to collectmonsoon runoff. Wells were probably aHarappan invention. A recent survey revealed that every third house had a well. Sophisticated examples of rainwater harvesting have been found in the ruins of the Palace of Knossos (1700B.C.) in the island of Crete, Greece, the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain, and Chihuahua area of Mexico, etc. (Vide historical accounts described in UNEP, 1983; Agarwal and Narain, 1997; Aswathanarayana, 2001; Mukundan, 2005; Raghavan, 2004, 2005, 2006).
