Water as Infrastructure: What Ancient India Got Right
Atul Bagai and Priyanka Verma argue that India's ancient water systems, from Dholavira to Kallanai, show durable infrastructure needs maintenance, local institutions and public duty.
Atul Bagai of UNEP and Priyanka Verma of Bharat Ki Soch argued in The Pioneer on 18 October 2026 that India should treat water as infrastructure. They draw on its own ancient hydraulics. India holds about 18% of the world's population but only about 4% of its freshwater. Their case rests on sites from Dholavira to Kallanai: structures last when maintenance, local institutions and public duty travel with the engineering.
What can ancient Indian water systems teach modern water security in 2026?
Ancient Indian water systems, from Dholavira's reservoirs to the Kallanai anicut, show that durable water infrastructure needs maintenance, local institutions and public duty, not engineering alone. Bagai and Verma write in The Pioneer that India holds 18% of the world's people but 4% of its freshwater, so schemes like Atal Bhujal Yojana and Jal Jeevan Mission must copy these institutional lessons.
Water security is not created by infrastructure alone. It emerges when knowledge, infrastructure, institutions and responsibility work together.
Atul Bagai and Priyanka Verma, The Pioneer (18 October 2026)
What actually happened?
The article was published in The Pioneer on 18 October 2026. Bagai is Head of the UNEP Country Office for India and a former IAS officer. Verma is a Junior Research Fellow at Bharat Ki Soch. They link ancient practice to present-day water security.
They point to the Harappan reservoirs and water-harvesting works at Dholavira, and to the tanks and canal at Sringaverapura near Prayagraj that captured Ganga floodwater with sedimentation arrangements. They also cite the Kallanai, or Grand Anicut, on the Cauvery, traditionally attributed to the Chola ruler Karikala in the early centuries CE.
The authors note that Kallanai was repaired by Captain Caldwell in 1804 and later by Arthur Cotton. A structure that old is still working because someone kept maintaining it.
The argument is not nostalgia. The authors are not saying India should rebuild old tanks and ignore modern engineering. They say the old systems solved a problem modern projects often neglect: who looks after the asset after the ribbon is cut.
Four ancient systems, four design ideas
What each ancient water system teaches
| System | What it did | Design idea for today |
|---|---|---|
| Dholavira (Harappan) | Reservoirs and water-harvesting works in a dry landscape | Store water locally before it is lost |
| Sringaverapura (near Prayagraj) | Tanks and a canal that captured Ganga floodwater, with sedimentation arrangements | Treat floods as a resource and manage silt |
| Kallanai / Grand Anicut (Cauvery) | Diverted river water for irrigation; repaired by Caldwell (1804) and Cotton | Maintenance keeps infrastructure alive for centuries |
| Uttaramerur inscriptions (919-921 CE) | Recorded village committees, including eri-variyam (tank committees), chosen by kudavolai | Local institutions with clear duties protect assets |
Notice that only one of the four is about engineering alone. The others concern flood management, repair and governance. That mix is the authors' real point.
The groundwater numbers
The authors cite Central Ground Water Board data for 2017 to 2024. Over-exploited assessment units fell from 17.24% to 11.13%. Safe units rose from 62.6% to 73.4%. Recharge from tanks and conservation structures rose from 13.98 to 25.34 billion cubic metres.
Share of assessed groundwater units, % (CGWB, 2017 and 2024)
| Over-exploited, 2017 | 17.24 |
|---|---|
| Over-exploited, 2024 | 11.13 |
| Safe, 2017 | 62.6 |
| Safe, 2024 | 73.4 |
The recharge figure is the one to read closely. Tanks and conservation structures nearly doubled their contribution, which supports the authors' case that surface storage and groundwater recharge are one connected system.
How did we get here?
- Harappan era Dholavira builds reservoirs and water-harvesting systems in an arid setting.
- Early centuries CE The Kallanai (Grand Anicut) is built on the Cauvery, traditionally attributed to Karikala.
- 919-921 CE Uttaramerur inscriptions describe village committees, including tank committees chosen by kudavolai.
- 1804 Captain Caldwell repairs the Kallanai; Arthur Cotton later works on it too.
- 2019 Jal Jeevan Mission begins with 16.7% of rural households holding tap connections.
- March 2026 Tap coverage reaches 81.71%; Atal Bhujal Yojana has created or restored about 81,700 structures.
- 18 Oct 2026 Bagai and Verma publish their argument in The Pioneer.
Connect the dots
- India has 18% of the world's people but only 4% of its freshwater, so every litre must be stored and reused
- Ancient systems stored water locally, captured floods and managed silt
- They survived because communities and committees were responsible for upkeep
- Modern schemes build structures at scale, as with 81,700 under Atal Bhujal Yojana
- Without clear owners and maintenance duties, modern structures risk decay
- Water security then depends on institutions and public duty as much as on concrete
Read more
Read More
- Jal Jeevan Mission (official portal) (Official figures and guidelines for rural tap water coverage)
- Atal Bhujal Yojana (Atal Jal portal) (Scheme objectives and Gram Panchayat water budgeting)
- Maharashtra Drought: How 304 Talukas Qualify for Relief (A current example of water stress and relief rules)
Two modern programmes
The authors report that Atal Bhujal Yojana shows groundwater improvement in 180 of 229 blocks. About 81,700 water-conservation and recharge structures had been created or restored by March 2026. The scheme works through Gram Panchayat level planning.
They also report that Jal Jeevan Mission raised rural household tap-water coverage from 16.7% in 2019 to 81.71% by March 2026.
Access and sustainability are different tests. A tap connection counts as success on a dashboard. Whether water keeps flowing five years later depends on the source, the upkeep and the village body that manages it.
The debate
| View | Core argument | Evidence cited |
|---|---|---|
| Learn from the past | Maintenance, local committees and public duty explain why old systems lasted | Kallanai repairs in 1804; Uttaramerur tank committees (919-921 CE) |
| Modern scale needs modern tools | Today's demand, pollution and climate swings exceed what traditional systems were built for | India's 18% population share against 4% of freshwater |
| Both, joined together | Combine new infrastructure with old institutional principles and measured outcomes | Atal Bhujal blocks improving in 180 of 229; recharge up from 13.98 to 25.34 billion cubic metres |
Reasonable people differ on how far history can guide policy. Ancient systems served far smaller populations, so copying them directly would fail. The transferable part is the principle of assigned responsibility, not the stone and earth.
What could happen next?
- [object Object]
- [object Object]
- [object Object]
Why does it matter for India?
| Dimension | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Food security | Irrigation depends on tanks, canals and groundwater, all of which need upkeep |
| Public health | Rural tap coverage rising from 16.7% to 81.71% only helps if sources stay safe and reliable |
| Federalism and local governance | Gram Panchayats and village committees carry the maintenance burden in practice |
| Climate resilience | Local storage and recharge buffer rainfall swings, as with a deficit monsoon year |
What should we watch?
- Whether new schemes name an operator and fund maintenance for each structure.
- Whether the next CGWB assessment keeps showing fewer over-exploited units than the 11.13% reported for 2024.
- Whether Atal Bhujal Yojana results hold beyond its seven states and 229 blocks.
- Whether Jal Jeevan Mission reports source sustainability alongside tap coverage.
- Whether village water committees get training and a steady budget.
Bottom line
Bagai and Verma make a simple point with real examples: water security is built from knowledge, infrastructure, institutions and responsibility together. India's recent numbers on groundwater and tap coverage are encouraging. The next test is whether the structures and the institutions behind them last as long as the Kallanai has.
Where this fits in the syllabus
- Dholavira's water system has been asked about directly: UPSC Prelims 2021 asked which ancient town is known for check-dams, canals and connected reservoirs; the answer is Dholavira.
- Groundwater governance has appeared in UPSC Prelims 2020 (Central Ground Water Authority statements) and 2023 (UN World Water Development Report statements).
- Jal Jeevan Mission was tested in CAPF AC 2025 and UPPSC Prelims 2022.
- UPSC Mains has asked about the Jal Shakti Abhiyan (GS-III, 2020) and the National Watershed Project (GS-III, 2019).
Key terms
Sources & Further Reading
- The Pioneer: Water as infrastructure: Lessons from ancient Indian hydraulics for contemporary water security, Atul Bagai and Priyanka Verma (18 October 2026)
- Jal Jeevan Mission, Ministry of Jal Shakti
- Atal Bhujal Yojana, Ministry of Jal Shakti
- Hero photo: Grand Anicut (Kallanai) on the Cauvery, Beckamrajeev, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)