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

20 May 2016 Blog
Mainstreaming Biodiversity: Sustaining People and their Livelihoods

George Washington once rightly said, “The most healthful, the most useful and the noblest employment of man is none other ...

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 ...

17 Aug 2017 Blog
Connecting Pixels to People: A case Study of the Gandaki River Basin

Nepal is experiencing a massive out-migration of the youth and labour migration is becoming an important factor in securing an ...

24 Apr 2019 RMS
Homestays in Bhutan: A gateway for women’s empowerment and gender equality

The homestay business in Haa dzongkhag (district), along Bhutan’s western border, has been transforming women’s roles in rural Bhutan. Seventy-year-old ...

7 Mar 2020 Gender in Koshi
International Women’s Day 2020 #EachforEqual

As she struggled to get her wailing three-year old into her school clothes, Saraswati heard the milk hiss away in ...

6 May 2016 Cryosphere
The longest glacier in Nepal – Ngozumpa

I’m placing my foot carefully on a stable rock. This is definitely a terrain to break your ankle. Or, I ...

26 Mar 2018 Blog
Transborder trade in the Kailash Sacred Landscape

Before I started working with the Kailash Sacred Landscape Conservation and Development Initiative (KSLCDI), whenever I thought of transborder international ...

17 Jul 2017 Blog
Seeking Connection

We finally stood up. Our eyes were closed, our hands held in a circle. Our ears were pricked up to ...