Old ways to store water

This lesson is from 'What a Tank!' in your book, Santoor (Chapter 6). It is not a story; it gives us facts about storing water.

Saving water, called water conservation, is something people have done for hundreds of years. Long ago, people built huge places to store water. These did more than store water: they protected cities from floods, gave people drinking water, and brought people together.

Even today, many communities in India still use these old ways of managing water. In Tamil Nadu, Ooranis store rainwater, which is used for drinking and for farming. In Kerala, Panam Keni wells are famous because they do not dry up, even in the hottest months.

In Rajasthan's Thar region, which is a desert, Tankas are common. A tanka is a tank built under the ground. It can store enough water to last six to seven months.