I t seems ironic that even as it announces a subsidy scheme for rainwater harvesting, the government continues to neglect the age-old, traditional rainwater harvesting technology developed by our forefathers over the centuries. In coastal Goa, nearly every village has a water tank or tollem, created by blocking a stream in a paddy field after the fury of the monsoon is over. The land is used for cultivation in the monsoon, and for storing water the rest of the year. The tollem recharges the natural sub-soil aquifers in the area, which feed the springs in village wells. The compensation for farmers whose land comes under the lake is that it is far more fertile. The bund and sluice gate are maintained out of the proceeds of the annual auction for fish that grow in the lake. It is a near-perfect, self-sustaining system. But the shortsightedness of successive governments has led to many villages abandoning the traditional village tollem, as and when piped water supply is made available. Ironically, the piped water supply is erratic, irregular and causes inconvenience to all, but nobody has taken the initiative to create a local water supply from village wells perennially recharged by the village tollem. That would be a cheaper and more effective water supply system, but it would yield little or nothing by way of kickbacks to a minister. So, it is an unwanted solution. But it seems the government