Traditional Wisdom and Resource Management: Some Reflection from India

Abstract

Water, the most vital natural resource and an inalienable ingredient of life on earth, is used, shared, preserved and regulated as per cultural norms of the people everywhere. The peoples from the traditional rural and tribal societies used to use their valuable technical knowledge in acquiring and controlling water. The culture specific factors in the form of traditional practices, values and beliefs used to play an important role in using, sharing, managing and conserving water resources.

Using anthropological techniques, the present paper attempts to see the Saura perceptions, cultural practices, beliefs in managing, sharing and also in conserving the water resources in India. This paper analyses the information on the traditional system of water management, the role of community and the importance of cultural practices, religious beliefs and pattern of agricultural practices in water management It also critically examines the intervention of new institutions in water management and their impact on age-old traditional system of resource management.

It is observed in our study that the Saura’sr day-to-day system of water management and its use was also surrounded with cultural practices and belief system. They had a rich ecological knowledge, which had its influence on their system of water management. The community cohesion and social capital played their most important roles in this traditional system of water management. Though this traditional system is still there, most of the traditional methods and practices in water management have been disturbed due to the interventions of outsiders new institutions in water management