JOHADS

Nov. 26, 2019

The Haryana government has come out with a plan of rehabilitating over 16,400 Johads across the state in order to analyze pond water to ascertain its suitability for irrigation and other uses. The government has created a Pond Data Management Software and has started generating a 21-digit unique identification number each for such water body.

About:

What is it? A johad is a community-owned rainwater storage wetland mainly used for harnessing water resources in the state of Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, western Uttar Pradesh.
Features: It collects and stores water throughout the year, to be used for the purpose of recharging the groundwater in the nearby water wells, washing, bathing and drinking by humans and cattle. Some johads also have bricked or stones masonry and cemented ghat.
Names: Johad in Haryanvi language and Rajasthani language are also called sarovar, taal and talab in Hindi language, and water pond or lake in English. Johads are called as khadin in Jaisalmer district.
Clarification: Smaller cemented water tanks called tanki or tanka in parts of Rajasthan are also sometimes mistakenly referred to as johad. Concretised rain-fed tanka and canal-fed diggi are different from the johads.