The digging of suranga requires exemplary skill and only a handful of persons are doing it now
KOZHIKODE: Suranga is the traditional water harvesting system found in northern Kasargod which can be termed as a horizontal well. It is dug through hard laterite soil formations from which water seeps out and flows out of the tunnel to be collected in open ponds.
The laterite geography of the region and the natives’ belief that suranga water is purer than normal well water makes the conventional system most preferred.
According to the well-known water harvesting journalist, Sree Padre, there are around 2000 surangas in Bayar village alone. “Padre, Kumbadaje and Angalpady areas have a number of surangas drawing water amidst the increasing number of borewells in other parts of the district. The 300-metre-long suranga in Sheni village is a delight to watch,” says Sree Padre.
A suranga is normally about 0. 45 - 0.70 metres wide and about 1.8 - 2.0 m high and the length can vary from around 10 to 300 metres. If the tunnel is very long, a number of vertical air shafts are provided to ensure atmospheric pressure inside.
“The porous laterite has a capacity to store water. The clay in the laterite mud holds the water, which is the key in the process of suranga,” noted Dr Kamalam Joseph, senior scientist at CWRDM (Centre for Water Resourced Development and Management).
The digging of suranga requires exemplary skill and only a handful of persons are doing it now. “It is a wonder how faultlessly they make it,” adds Shree Padre.
He was of the opinion that surangas have close resemblance with the traditional well, ‘qunats’ of Iran and the similarity needs to be studied in detail.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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