India Farmstay Captures 2M Liters Rainwater, Built Only With Mud

A farmstay in rural India is proving that the future of tourism might actually look a lot like the past.

Bikrant Tiwary, who has planted over 20 million trees across India, opened Mud & Meadows this year in Sankarda village near Jamshedpur. The retreat was built entirely without cement, using only soil, sand, lime, jaggery, and traditional binding materials that local tribal communities once knew by heart.

The catch? Nobody in the region had attempted this kind of construction in generations.

Bikrant trained about 20 people from the local Kumhar (potter) community from scratch. Walls were built, tested, failed, and rebuilt. What should have taken months stretched into two and a half years, but the wait created something more valuable than a quick build: it restored lost skills and community confidence.

"The best gift we can give the next generation is a sustainable lifestyle," says Bikrant, who left his corporate job 15 years ago after graduating from Harvard Business School. His work with tribal communities through Aadivasi.org convinced him that indigenous wisdom deserves more than preservation. It deserves celebration.

Architect Shreya Srivastava from Studio Shunya designed the retreat around natural cooling systems. Thick walls slow temperature transfer while small ventilators release rising heat. Locally made lattice windows soften sunlight and keep air flowing. The result is a naturally cool interior despite Jharkhand's intense summers.

The property now houses over 100 tree species and captures approximately 2 million liters of rainwater annually through one large pond and multiple soak pits. Another 1.5 million liters recharge groundwater each year using natural slope design and earthen embankments that capture runoff.

Sun-dried mud bricks were made on site using local soil, straw, lime, and cow dung from the nearby cowshed. Stone foundations use lime and finely powdered burnt clay bricks instead of industrial cement.

The Ripple Effect

Mud & Meadows is quietly challenging what sustainable tourism can look like in India. Most travelers don't picture Jamshedpur as a destination, but Bikrant sees that as exactly the point. Tribal tourism remains misunderstood despite offering wisdom that modern cities desperately need.

Through Aadivasi.org, Bikrant created a model where people contribute to tree planting, rainwater harvesting, or community needs like education and feminine hygiene, then receive handcrafted items of equal value in return. The farmstay extends this philosophy: guests experience tribal knowledge firsthand while local communities gain employment and skills.

The trained workers now carry expertise that can spread to other villages. The techniques aren't just historical curiosities but practical solutions for climate-conscious construction. Every wall built without cement is one less contribution to the construction industry's massive carbon footprint.

Bikrant hopes guests leave understanding something essential: the most innovative solutions often come from looking backward, not forward. Mud walls and rainwater ponds aren't romantic relics but blueprints for a livable future.

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