• ISBN13: 9788182745537
• Binding: Hardcover
• Subject: Earth-Science/Environment
• Publisher: Pentagon Press
• Publisher Imprint: Pentagon P
• Publication Date: March 15, 2012
• Pages: 164
• Original Price: 1500.0 INR
• Language: English
• Edition: N/A
• Item Weight: 500 grams

The author has done an exhaustive documentation of the whole diversity of traditional hydraulic structures, including their technology, of Uttarakhand. This monograph is richly illustrated with photographs, maps and several tables. The documentation become very precious as the traditional hydraulics today is a vanishing folk heritage. The book demonstrates the direct relevance of this folk scientific heritage in finding solutions to the prevailing water crisis. The author rules out any solution based on privatization of water. The book strongly pleads for harvesting every drop of rain and every snowflake. The book, written in a very lucid style, is of interest to both a lay reader and a specialist interested in traditional knowledge, culture, hydraulics, and folk heritage.

Manikant Shah, a PhD in Sociology, is working with communities under various NGOs in Uttarakhand for the last twelve years. Since 2001 he was associated with Lok Vigyan Kendra, Almora and has contributed essays, reviews and stories to the web, engaged in various interdisciplinary studies focused on History of Science, and Technology and Traditional Knowledge Systems. Besides Sociology, his interests include Philosophy and rural uplift of Uttarakhand. He has co-edited the book, A Multidisciplinary Study of Traditional Knowledge Systems of Uttaranchal. The study of the rich Traditional Knowledge Systems of the Himalayan communities has become his life long passion. Presently, he is teaching at the Badshahi Thaul Campus of the Central HNB Garhwal University in district Tehri, Uttarakhand (India).