Anupam Mishra: The ancient ingenuity of water harvesting

المترجم: Mohamed Achraf BEN MOHAMED المدقّق: Mahmoud Aghiorly

For emotions, we should not move quickly to the desert.

حفاظا على المشاعر، لن ننتقل مباشرة إلى الصحراء.

So, first, a small housekeeping announcement:

لذا، وقبل كلّ شيء، إعلان ذو طابع تنظيميّ صغير:

please switch off your

رجاءا أطفؤوا

proper English check programs

برامج التحقّق من اللّغة الأنجليزية

installed in your brain.

المثبّت في أدمغتكم.

(Applause)

(تصفيق)

So, welcome to the Golden Desert, Indian desert.

لذا، أهلا بكم في الصحراء الذهبية ، صحراء الهند.

It receives the least rainfall in the country,

إنّها تتلقّى أقل هطول للأمطار في البلاد،

lowest rainfall.

أدنى مستوى هطول الأمطار.

If you are well-versed with inches, nine inches,

إذا كنت على دراية جيدة بالبوصة، تسع بوصات،

centimeters, 16 [centimeters].

السنتيمترات، 16 بوصة.(سنتيمتر)

The groundwater is 300 feet deep, 100 meters.

توجد المياه الجوفية على عمق 300 قدم، 100 متر.

And in most parts it is saline, not fit for drinking.

وفي معظم الأحيان فهي مالحة، لا تصلح للشرب.

So, you can't install hand pumps or dig wells,

لذلك، لا يمكنك تثبيت مضخات يدوية أو حفر الآبار،

though there is no electricity in most of the villages.

ولو أنّه لا وجود للكهرباء في معظم القرى.

But suppose you use the green technology, solar pumps --

ولكن افترض أنك تستخدم التكنولوجيا الخضراء، مضخات شمسية --

they are of no use in this area.

فهي لا تصلح للإستعمال في هذه المنطقة.

So, welcome to the Golden Desert.

لذلك ، أهلا بكم في الصحراء الذهبية.

Clouds seldom visit this area.

نادرا ما تزور الغيوم هذه المنطقة.

But we find 40 different names of clouds in this dialect used here.

لكننا نجد 40 مرادفا لكلمة الغيوم في اللهجة المستخدمة هنا.

There are a number of techniques to harvest rain.

وهناك تقنيات عدة لتجميع الأمطار.

This is a new work, it's a new program.

هذا هو العمل الجديد، إنّه برنامج جديد.

But for the desert society

ولكن بالنسبة لمجتمع الصحراء

this is no program; this is their life.

لا يوجد وجود لبرنامج، هذه هي حياتهم.

And they harvest rain in many ways.

وهم يقومون بتجميع مياه الأمطار بطرق عدّة.

So, this is the first device they use

لذا، هذا هو أول جهاز يستخدمونه

in harvesting rain.

لتجميع مياه الأمطار.

It's called kunds; somewhere it is called [unclear].

انها تدعى "كُنْدِسْ"، تسمّى في مكان ما [غير واضح].

And you can notice they have created

ويمكنكم ملاحظة أنهم قاموا بخلق

a kind of false catchment.

مستجمعات مياه شكليّة.

The desert is there, sand dunes, some small field.

الصحراء هناك، كثبان رملية، وبعض الحقول الصغيرة.

And this is all big raised platform.

وهذه منصّة كبيرة منصوبة.

You can notice the small holes

يمكنكم ملاحظة الثقوب الصغيرة

the water will fall on this catchment,

الّتي يمرّ خلالها الماء في هذه المستجمعات،

and there is a slope.

ويوجد منحدر.

Sometimes our engineers and architects

في بعض الأحيان لا يعبأ المهندسون و المعماريّون لدينا

do not care about slopes in bathrooms,

بالمنحدرات داخل بيوت الإستحمام

but here they will care properly.

ولكنّهم هنا سَيُولُونَهَا كلّ الإهتمام.

And the water will go where it should go.

وسيذهب الماء إلى يجب أن يكون.

And then it is 40 feet deep.

و من ثم فعمقها يبلغ 40 قدما.

The waterproofing is done perfectly,

تمّ التحكّم بتسرب المياه بطريقة متقنة.

better than our city contractors,

أفضل من مقاولي مدينتنا،

because not a single drop should go waste in this.

لأنه لا ينبغي أن تضيع قطرة واحدة.

They collect 100 thousand liters in one season.

إنّهم يقومون بتجميع 100 ألف لتر في الموسم واحد.

And this is pure drinking water.

وهي مياه نقيّة صالحة للشرب .

Below the surface there is hard saline water.

تحت سطح الأرض توجد مياه شديدة الملوحة.

But now you can have this for year round.

ولكن الآن يمكنك الحصول على هذا على مدار السنة.

It's two houses.

هذين منزلين.

We often use a term called bylaws.

عادة ما نستعمل عبارة النظام الداخلي.

Because we are used to get written things.

لأنا تعودنا على الحصول على أشياء مكتوبة.

But here it is unwritten by law.

ولكن هنا هو غير مكتوب في القانون.

And people made their house,

و يقوم الناس ببناء منازلهم،

and the water storage tanks.

وخزانات حفظ المياه.

These raised up platforms just like this stage.

وهذا ما جعل المنصات تصل إلى هذا الحدّ.

In fact they go 15 feet deep,

في الواقع إنّها تصل إلى عمق 15 قدما،

and collect rain water from roof,

و تُجَمِّعُ مياه الأمطار من السطح،

there is a small pipe, and from their courtyard.

يوجد أنبوب صغير، و من الفناء.

It can also harvest something like 25,000 in a good monsoon.

ويمكنها أيضا أن تُجَمِّع ما يصل إلى 25000 في موسم جيّد.

Another big one,

واحد آخر كبير،

this is of course out of the hardcore desert area.

هذا بالطبع خارج المنطقة القاسية من الصحراء.

This is near Jaipur. This is called the Jaigarh Fort.

إنّها بالقرب من "جايبور". وهي تدعى قلعة "جيغار".

And it can collect six million gallons of rainwater in one season.

ويمكنها أن تجمع ستّة ملايين غالون من مياه الأمطار في موسم واحد.

The age is 400 years.

عمرها 400 سنة.

So, since 400 years it has been giving you

وهكذا، ومنذ 400 سنة، فإنها توفّر

almost six million gallons of water per season.

ما يقرب من ستة ملايين غالون من الماء في الموسم الواحد.

You can calculate the price of that water.

يمكنكم تقدير ثمن ذلك الماء.

It draws water from 15 kilometers of canals.

تجلب الماء عبر 15 كيلومترا من القنوات.

You can see a modern road, hardly 50 years old.

يمكنك أن ترى طريقا حديثة، بالكاد منذ 50 سنة.

It can break sometimes.

ويمكن في بعض الأحيان أن تنقطع.

But this 400 year old canal, which draws water,

ولكن هذه القناة ذات الأربع مائة سنة، و الّتي تجلب الماء،

it is maintained for so many generations.

محفوظة لأجيال متعدّدة.

Of course if you want to go inside, the two doors are locked.

بالطّبع إذا ما أردت الولوج داخلها، فإنّ البابين الإثنين موصودان.

But they can be opened for TED people.

ولكن يمكن أن يتم فتحهما لمجموعة تد.

(Laughter)

(ضحك)

And we request them.

لقد طلبنا ذلك منهم.

You can see person coming up with

يمكن أن ترى شخصا قادما و بحوزته

two canisters of water.

اسطوانتين من الماء.

And the water level -- these are not empty canisters --

و مستوى الماء -- هذين الإسطوانتين ليستا فارغتين --

water level is right up to this.

منسوب المياه أعلى من ذلك.

It can envy many municipalities,

يكمن أن يكون موضع حسد العديد من البلديّات ،

the color, the taste, the purity of this water.

اللّون ، المذاق، ونقاوة هذه المياه.

And this is what they call Zero B type of water,

وهذا ما يسمّونه بالمياه صنف "صفر ب"،

because it comes from the clouds,

لأنها تأتي من الغيوم ،

pure distilled water.

ماء مُقَطَّرٌ نَقِيٌ.

We stop for a quick commercial break,

سنتوقّف لفاصل تجاري سريع،

and then we come back to the traditional systems.

ثم نعود إلى الأنظمة التقليدية.

The government thought that this is a very

ترى الحكومة أن هذه

backward area and we should bring

منطقة متخلفة جدّا، ويجب احداث

a multi-million dollar project

مشروع يكلّف عدّة ملايين من الدولارات

to bring water from the Himalayas.

لجلب المياه من جبال الهيمالايا.

That's why I said that this is a commercial break.

لذلك قلت أنّ هذا فاصل إعلانيّ.

(Laughter)

(ضحك)

But we will come back, once again,

ولكنّنا سنعود، من جديد،

to the traditional thing.

إلى الأمور التقليديّة.

So, water from 300, 400 kilometers away,

لذلك، فالمياه التي تأتي من مسافة 300 و 400 كيلومترا،

soon it become like this.

تصبح سريعا هكذا.

In many portions, water hyacinth

في أجزاء عديدة، تغطي الزّهرة الياقوتية

covered these big canals like anything.

هذه القنوات الكبيرة، بشكل لا مثيل له.

Of course there are some areas where water is reaching,

بالطبع هناك بعض المناطق التي تتوافر فيها المياه،

I'm not saying that it is not reaching at all.

أنا لا أقول أنّه لا يصل بتاتا.

But the tail end, the Jaisalmer area,

ولكن في نهاية المطاف، في منطقة "جايسالمر"،

you will notice in Bikaner things like this:

ستلاحظ في "بيكانير" أشياء من هذا القبيل :

where the water hyacinth couldn't grow,

حيث لا يمكن للزّهرة الياقوتية أن تنمو

the sand is flowing in these canals.

تتدفق الرمال في هذه القنوات.

The bonus is that you can find wildlife around it.

المكافأة هي أنه يمكنك العثور على الحياة البرية من حوله.

(Laughter)

(ضحك)

We had full-page advertisements,

كانت لدينا إعلانات على صفحة كاملة،

some 30 years, 25 years ago when this canal came.

قبل نحو 30 عاما، 25 عاما عندما وصلت هذه القناة.

They said that throw away your traditional systems,

وقالوا تخلّصوا من أنظمتكم التقليدية،

these new cement tanks will supply you piped water.

فإن هذه الخزّانات الإسمنتيّة الجديدة ستورّد لكم المياه الجارية.

It's a dream. And it became a dream also.

هذا حلم. وأصبح حلم أيضا.

Because soon the water was not able to reach these areas.

لأن المياه سرعان ما صارت عاجزة عن الوصول إلى هذه المناطق.

And people started renovating their own structures.

وبدأ الناس بتجديد منشآتهم الخاصة.

These are all traditional water structures,

وهذه كلها منشآت مياه تقليدية،

which we won't be able to explain in such a short time.

لسنا قادرين على تقديمها في مثل هذا الوقت القصير.

But you can see that no woman is standing on those.

ولكن يمكنك أن تلاحظ عدم وجود أي امرأة تنتظر هناك.

(Laughter)

(ضحك)

And they are plaiting hair.

إنّهم يقومون بضفر شعرهم.

(Applause)

(تصفيق)

Jaisalmer. This is heart of desert.

"جايسالمر". هذا قلب الصحراء.

This town was established 800 years ago.

تأسّست هذه المدينة منذ 800 سنة.

I'm not sure by that time

ليست متأكّدا أن في تلك الحِقْبَةِ

Bombay was there, or Delhi was there,

"ممباي" كانت قد تأسّست، أو "دلهي" كانت قد تأسّست،

or Chennai was there, or Bangalore was there.

أو "شناي" كانت قد تأسّست، أو "بنغالور" كانت قد تأسّست.

So, this was the terminal point for silk route.

كانت هذه محطّة على طريق الحرير.

Well connected, 800 years ago, through Europe.

متصلة ، منذ 800 سنة، بأوروبا.

None of us were able to go to Europe,

لم يكن بإمكان أيٍّ منّا الذّهاب إلى أوروبا،

but Jaisalmer was well connected to it.

لكن "جايسالمر" كانت مرتبطة جيّدا بها.

And this is the 16 centimeter area.

هذه منطقة الستّة عشر سنتيمترا.

Such a limited rainfall,

مع مثل هذا المستوى المنخفظ لهطول الأمطار،

and highest colorful life flourished in these areas.

ازدهرت حياة متعدّدة الألوان في هذه المناطق.

You won't find water in this slide.

لن تجد مياها في هذه الشريحة.

But it is invisible.

ولكنها غير مرئية.

Somewhere a stream or a rivulet

يوجد في مكان ما ساقية أو غدير

is running through here.

يجريان هنا.

Or, if you want to paint, you can paint it blue throughout

إذا أردت رسم المكان، يمكنك أن ترسمه باللّون الأزرق

because every roof which you see in this picture

لأنّ كلّ سقف يمكنك رؤيته على هذه الصورة

collects rainwater drops

يقوم بجمع مياه الأمطار

and deposit in the rooms.

But apart from this system,

they designed 52 beautiful water bodies around this town.

And what we call private public partnership

you can add estate also.

So, estate, public and private entrepreneurs

work together to build this beautiful water body.

And it's a kind of water body for all seasons.

You will admire it. Just behold the beauty throughout the year.

Whether water level goes up or down,

the beauty is there throughout.

Another water body, dried up, of course,

during the summer period,

but you can see how the traditional society

combines engineering with aesthetics, with the heart.

These statues, marvelous statues,

gives you an idea of water table.

When this rain comes and the water starts filling this tank,

it will submerge these beautiful statues

in what we call in English today "mass communication."

This was for mass communication.

Everybody in the town will know that this elephant has drowned,

so water will be there for seven months or nine months,

or 12 months.

And then they will come and worship this pond,

pay respect, their gratitude.

Another small water body, called the [unclear].

It is difficult to translate in English,

especially in my English.

But the nearest would be "glory," a reputation.

The reputation in desert of this small water body is

that it never dries up.

In severe drought periods

nobody has seen this water body

getting dried up.

And perhaps they knew the future also.

It was designed some 150 years ago.

But perhaps they knew that on sixth, November, 2009,

there will be a TED green and blue session,

so they painted it like this.

(Laughter)

(Applause)

Dry water body. Children are standing on

a very difficult device to explain.

This is called kund. We have, in English, surface water and ground water.

But this is not ground water.

You can draw ground water from any well.

But this is no ordinary well.

It squeeze the moisture

hidden in the sand.

And they have dubbed this water as the third one called [unclear].

And there is a gypsum belt running below it.

And it was deposited by the great mother Earth,

some three million years ago.

And where we have this gypsum strip

they can harvest this water.

This is the same dry water body.

Now, you don't find any kund;

they are all submerged.

But when the water goes down they will be able

to draw water from those structures throughout the year.

This year they have received only six centimeters.

Six centimeter of rainfall,

and they can telephone you

that if you find any water problem in your city,

Delhi, Bombay, Bangalore, Mysore,

please come to our area of six centimeters, we can give you water.

(Laughter)

How they maintain them?

There are three things: concept, planning,

making the actual thing, and also maintaining them.

It is a structure for maintain,

for centuries, by generations, without any department,

without any funding,

So the secret is "[unclear]," respect.

Your own thing, not personal property,

my property, every time.

So, these stone pillars

will remind you that you are entering into a water body area.

Don't spit, don't do anything wrong,

so that the clean water can be collected.

Another pillar, stone pillar on your right side.

If you climb these three, six steps

you will find something very nice.

This was done in 11th century.

And you have to go further down.

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words,

so we can say a thousand words right now,

an another thousand words.

If the water table goes down,

you will find new stairs.

If it comes up, some of them will be submerged.

So, throughout the year

this beautiful system will give you some pleasure.

Three sides, such steps, on the fourth side

there is a four-story building

where you can organize such TED conferences anytime.

(Applause)

Excuse me, who built these structures?

They are in front of you.

The best civil engineers we had, the best planners,

the best architects.

We can say that because of them,

because of their forefathers,

India could get the first engineering college

in 1847.

There were no English medium schools at that time,

even no Hindi schools, [unclear] schools.

But such people, compelled to the East India Company,

which came here for business, a very dirty kind of business ...

(Laughter)

but not to create the engineering colleges.

But because of them, first engineering college was created

in a small village, not in the town.

The last point, we all know in our primary schools that

that camel is a ship of desert.

So, you can find through your Jeep,

a camel, and a cart.

This tire comes from the airplane.

So, look at the beauty from the desert society

who can harvest rainwater,

and also create something

through a tire from a jet plane,

and used in a camel cart.

Last picture, it's a tattoo,

2,000-years-old tattoo.

They were using it on their body.

Tattoo was, at one time,

a kind of a blacklisted

or con thing, but now it is in thing.

(Laughter)

(Applause)

You can copy this tattoo. I have some posters of this.

(Laughter)

The center of life is water.

These are the beautiful waves.

These are the beautiful stairs

which we just saw in one of the slides.

These are the trees.

And these are the flowers which

add fragrance to our lives.

So, this is the message of desert.

Thank you very much.

(Applause)

Chris Anderson: So, first of all, I wish I had your eloquence, truly, in any language.

(Applause)

These artifacts and designs are inspiring.

Do you believe that they can be used elsewhere,

that the world can learn from this?

Or is this just right for this place?

Anupam Mishra: No, the basic idea is to

utilize water that falls on our area.

So, the ponds, the open bodies, are everywhere,

right from Sri Lanka to Kashmir, and in other parts also.

And these [unclear], which stored water,

there are two type of things.

One recharge, and one stores.

So, it depends on the terrain.

But kund, which uses the gypsum belt,

for that you have to go back to your calendar,

three million years ago.

If it is there it can be done right now.

Otherwise, it can't be done.

(Laughter)

(Applause)

CA: Thank you so much.

(Applause)