Back to news
11 Apr 2017 | Blog

Reviving the dying tradition of dug wells in Potohar

Ali Kamran & Masooma Hassan

0 mins Read

70% Complete
Traditional dug well with animal-driven Persian Wheel-these traditional systems are disappearing in the midst of the technlogical revolution that the country has seen over the past decade. Photo Credit: Tariq Mustafa

Dug wells have been the only source of water for many areas in the Potohar region for ages. Agriculture is the main source of livelihood for most communities, and it is dependent on rainwater. When rainwater is insufficient to support the crops, these dug wells are the only hope of these vulnerable farming communities. The irrigation of crops through these dug wells is labour-intensive, animal-driven, and time-consuming. Though still operational at a few places, they are now being considered old-fashioned and out-dated options, because pumping water through them is uneconomical. Earlier, farmers used them for irrigation of their crops and domestic needs, but now they have almost abandoned this system.

<READ MORE>>

Stay current

Stay up to date on what’s happening around the HKH with our most recent publications and find out how you can help by subscribing to our mailing list.

Sign Up

Related Content

Continue exploring this topic

21 Mar 2019 Blog
Every drop of fresh water matters, every little fish counts

The rivers of the Hindu Kush Himalaya provide numerous critical goods and services to nearly two billion people, residing both ...

10 Jun 2017 Blog
Giving dugwells a new lease of life with solar powered pumps in the Soan Basin, Pakistan

Novel interventions for climate change adaptation are a step forward in meeting grass-root needs. Such has been the case with ...

9 Jan 2017 Blog
A ray of hope towards energy security in Nepal

I was just in time to catch my bus to work. Hurriedly, I stepped onto the bus and found a ...

11 Apr 2016 Gender in Koshi
Water, Women and Livelihood Improvement

Water is the lifeblood of every household in Nepal's middle hills, but accessing it is a challenge. Hill hamlets depend ...

10 Jun 2016 Cryosphere
AWS On Ice

One of the biggest unknowns in how glaciers will respond to climate change are the meteorological conditions and melt rates ...

12 Jul 2016 Blog
Field Visit For Micro Hydropower Study In The Upper Gandak River Basin

ICIMOD’s Himalayan Adaptation, Water, and Resilience (HI-AWARE) initiative is implementing three work packages – knowledge generation, research into use, and ...

11 Sep 2017 Gender in Koshi
Why China should Include a Gender Perspective in its Climate Change Policies

In Haitang, off-farm wage labour outside the community has, for some years, been an important income-generating strategy. As the drought ...

10 Jul 2017 Blog
Irrigation schemes get a breath of fresh air in Pakistan

Research in agriculture is often looked at sceptically in developing countries, where it is believed that innovative technologies can only ...