Laxman Singh talks about the use of tradition in water conservation (through a translator):

  In ancient times, people would build ponds, decorate ponds, worship those ponds, just as they would worship a god. People earlier would give a name to the pond, just as you name a child, they would name the pond. But slowly people were just not bothered – they wouldn't care about such water.

We linked these ponds with our customs and with our traditions. We created these ponds. When we started working, we would work on these ponds, name the pond, plant trees around the pond, decorate the pond.

We would build a small temple near the pond. It would be a sacred place and people would try and keep the area around the pond clean.

People, they have tried to decorate the pond. They have built a temple here. They worship the pond, so that it is totally in keeping with the custom – the tradition. If you worship something, if you want to make it beautiful, then you try to sustain it. And the more efforts you put into sustaining and helping in conserving the water of the pond, it again helps the environment.

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