Kerala

A look at the traditional harvesting techniques used across the country.

Surangam

Found in Kasaragod district in Kerala (north Malabar) along the Western Ghats is a technique of harvesting water called surangam. Literally meaning a tunnel it cuts across the breadth of hill surface. It empties into a storage tank. Along the route of the surangam are vertical shafts meant to collect rainwater. But the primary source of water is by seepage along the laterite hills from which water seeps in. This technique is similar to qanat found in the Mesopotamia and Babylon around 700 BC.

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