WATER WISE
Lessons from a reservoir
S. VISHWANATH
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Some insights on how water requirements are catered to and how projects such as Hessarghatta become irrelevant over time with climate change
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Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it - George Santayana.
Located to the west of Bangalore at a distance of 24 km, picturesque Hessarghatta is home to one of the first city water supply schemes located outside of a city. It is more correct to refer to the Hesserghatta reservoir as a ‘once upon a time’ water lifeline for Bangalore rather than a current lifeline. It has been given up as a reliable source by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) since it no longer reliably fills up.
Looking at the history of the reservoir and the water supply scheme for the city will give us some insights as to how water requirements to a city are catered to and how projects become irrelevant and have to be abandoned or are given up in the chase for water. With climate change staring at us, the Hessarghatta story has many lessons for urban India.
A bund was probably built in 1532 on the Arkavathy, creating the Hessarghatta tank which served as an irrigation tank for centuries. It was comprehensively redone in 1894 to become the major water supplier to Bangalore. For the first time the city had reached out for water beyond its tanks such as Dharmambudhi, Sampangi, Ulsoor and Sankey and local wells. A brick aqueduct brought water to a distance and then steam pumps were used to pump it up to Chimney Hills from where the water flowed by gravity to the Jewel Filters at Malleswaram.
Key role
The then Dewan K. Sheshadri Iyer played a key role in the development of the Hessarghatta water supply scheme which came to be called the Chamarajendra Water Works, as did the then Chief Engineer of Mysore M.C.Hutchins. It is now difficult to believe that Hessarghatta was chosen for reasons of long-term availability and purity of water.
D.K.Subramanian, in his seminal essay ‘Bangalore City’s water supply – A study’ mentions that the Chamarajendra Water Works was meant to deliver 55 litres of water per person per day to a population of 250,000 and the filtered water supply started on August 7, 1896.
Till the commissioning of the Thippagondanahalli reservoir in 1932-33, Hessarghatta remained the largest supplier of filtered water to the city. The reservoir last filled up in 1994 and year on year collects less and less water and therefore has gradually been given up as a reliable source of water for the city.
A reservoir with a catchment area of 189 square miles and with 184 tanks in its upper catchment and supplying 36 million litres per day of water becoming virtually redundant indicates the necessity for managing the catchment appropriately and ensuring good practices for free flow of water. Bangalore simply moved from Hessarghatta to Thippagondanahalli and from there to Torekadinahalli for Cauvery water.
The brick aqueduct and volute siphon are amazing water heritage structures fit to be preserved and displayed. It reveals the skills of our water engineers in being able to design and build beautiful systems. They now lie derelict. We need to revive and proudly display them for our future generations.
We need to understand the changes in the catchment of the Arkavathy and look at reviving the river and regenerating flows. The Hessarghatta reservoir has the capacity to supplement Bangalore’s water requirements at a far cheaper cost than any other. It makes ecological and economic sense to look at its revival. In learning from history the right lessons lies water wisdom.
Awareness walk
As a consequence of trying to understand the role of Hessarghatta reservoir in Bangalore’s growth, the Bangalore City Project (http://bcp.wikidot.com/) proposes to organise a walk on the reservoir bund. on July 6. The walk will look at the reservoir and its current state. A siphon provided as an overflow mechanism is another unique structure to be observed. Remnants of a brick aqueduct and a small temple on the bund will also be seen. Experts will explain how the reservoir functioned.
If you want to participate in the event please call Sandhya at 080- 2364 4690 or send an e-mail to rainwaterclub@gmail.com. We have 35 limited seats and the seats will be filled on a first come first serve basis. We propose to organise a bus from Cubbon Park to Hessarghatta and back. You should bring along drinking water and some snacks. The walk will be about 3 km long and will take about two-and-a-half hours.
www.rainwaterclub.org
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