Karnataka - Bijapur   

No sign of Buthnal tank revival

Staff Correspondent

`Those who have developed horticulture gardens around the tank are against it'

AWAITING ATTENTION: Water in the Buthnal tank is going unused despite heavy demand.

BIJAPUR: There appears to be no sign of the municipal administration reviving the tank in Buthnal on the outskirts of the city.

Even after commissioning of the first and second stages of the Krishna water supply scheme, the Buthnal water supply scheme (popularly known as Bijapur Water Works) continued to supply water to many parts of the city. It became defunct in 2001 after the tank dried up following drought. The tank with its impounding area spreading over 1,200 acres remained almost dry till 2005, but received good quantum of water during the last rainy season.

Improving supply

There was demand from the people that the water works should be made functional as it would help improve water supply.

The tank was designed by Sir M. Vishweshwaraiah. On the request of the then Bombay Government, under British rule, he had visited Bijapur in 1910. After an elaborate survey, he zeroed in on Buthnal area, and provided the necessary design for the tank and pump house.

In 1911, the 3,700-foot-long tank bund including the 600-foot spillway section was built. The Government imported two diesel-based motor pumps for this.

The total discharge was 1,30,000 gallons of water an hour, which was more than several times the requirement of those days. It was designed keeping in view the requirement that will rise in the next 50 years. As the demand grew, three electrical pumps with pumping capacity of 2.5 lakh gallons an hour were introduced in the sixties.

In fact, the scheme was the only water source of water for the city until the seventies and became the model water supply project for other urban bodies.

According to S.M. Patil, a retired employee, technical teams from different towns used to visit the project for study.

A portrait of Sir M. Vishweshwaraiah is still displayed on the pump-house wall. There is also a plaque mentioning his leading role in realising the project.

Electric pumps

According to the staff at the water works, the electric pumps are still in good condition, and can be set right with minor servicing. Sources allege that the municipality is interested in resuming water pumping, but some influential persons who have developed horticulture gardens around the tank are against it.

According to Vishwanath Bhavi, president of Neeru Beku Samiti a citizens' forum fighting for better water supply in city, the Bhutnal scheme may not be of much use in the backdrop of the Krishna water supply scheme coming into being.

"However, it (Bhutnal scheme) should be kept in running condition for emergency use. Also, because it has a heritage value," he added.

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