Termite mounds are indicators of source of underground water

Termites or white ants are nasty insects that destroy the wooden furniture, but their mounds are important because their presence is an indicator of nearby source of underground water. This ancient knowledge is contained in the Brihat Samhita of Varahamihira, the sixth century astrologer, astronomer and hydrologist.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 8 May 2016.

Ancient Indian scriptures like the Brihat Samhita of Varahamihira are mountains of knowledge which, if exploited properly, can help solve many problems. Like drought - as drought-hit India tries to quench the people's thirst by dispatching water trains and using satellite images to detect ground water, a simple survey of termite hills could be undertaken to identify locations that may have underground reserves of water.
According to Varahamihira, not only termite mounds but half a dozen animals, 30 different trees, trees with unusual features like knots in their trunks, two different trees united into one, abnormal palm trees with two crowns instead of one and absence of thorns in a normally thorn bearing tree are all indications of nearby source of water.
And, this Brihat Samhita which is in essence about ancient Indian wisdom on tropical ground water technology, goes on to indicate not only where to dig for water but also the depth up to which one must dig.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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