Persian Wheel

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Posted on June 14, 2016 at 07:09 AM

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Persian Wheel use to be a major irrigation system in ancient rural India, at least it was in my childhood days. Wheels gradually became obsolete by the advent of tube wells and bulls being burden. The sound of wheel’s and bucket’s movement slipped somewhere in the memory and finally faded.
It was a recent road trip in Rajasthan, from Kubhalgarh to Udaipur, Persian Wheels suddenly resurfaced and that too in working. It was a delightful experience to find farmers relying upon them. An old man told me that he use it when motor fails. That mean motor can’t work after water table drops steeply and in that situation wheels and bullock power are the only rescue measure. On the way, another wheel was moving under supervision of an old lady. I saw few young people dropping down from their cars to make a picture of the lady, the rolling buckets, wheel and not to mention, a selfie, of course.
A trouble shooter wheel exists and this is what our ancestors invented within their limited means!