Water Resources and Management System of the Himalayan Region: Case Study of Mizoram, India

The Himalayan region has been known as water abundant region in the form of innumerable natural water resources such as springs, streams, rivulets, etc. However, off late owing to climatic and anthropogenic reasons the entire region is soon turning into a water-deficit region leading to serious handicaps in undertaking the basic economic activities, affecting the diversity of livelihood and the drinking water sector. The problem becomes more acute in the dry season or non-monsoonal season.There seems to be a research void in the sustainable water resource planning of the Himalayan states. The present work is an attempt to study this research void through grass-root level analysis of the villages in Mizoram. Twelve villages of the Phullen RD block of Aizawl district, Mizoram were studied to understand the water supply and problems associated with water availability in the rural areas of Mizoram. In the villages of Mizoram, particularly the villages of the study area, Tuikhur or village spring source (VSS) and piped water supply constitute the main lifeline of water supply. Other sources of water include rainwater harvested and water taken from the stream or river. The springs which were once perennial have become seasonal owing to lack of spring shed management. Rainwater harvesting, barring inconsequential villages, is meagrely existent in this region of abundant rainfall with almost 130 days of rainfall. In the absence of proper water resource planning, there is a huge deficit of water every month with the average requirement of the study area being 2,49,148 gallons per month with a supply of just 2,14,248 gallons per month. However, water surplus was also observed in villages having a proper water management system in the form of rainwater harvesting and spring shed management.