A timeless hydrological marvel allowed to go to seed

The fear of being lowered 80 feet into the ground by a precarious lift, able to hold one moderately built person at a time, disappears as one intercepts a long underground tunnel whose one end is visible but the other is lost in the labyrinth of curves. The consistently dripping water along the wall of the tunnel and a continuous stream beneath completes the school lessons on hydrological cycle. What one is witness to is the famous Kundi Bhandara, part of the water works system that was established in 1615 AD and which continues to supply water four centuries hence to a population of no less than 50,000 in the city of Burhanpur.

One learns that this is one of the last functional systems, of the eight that the Mughal rulers had constructed under the guidance of a Persian geologist, Tabkutul Arz. Apparently, then ruler Abdul Rahim Khan was aware of Persian genius in constructing such systems, called Qanats, which are a series of well-like vertical shafts connected by gently sloping tunnels that tap into subterranean water percolating from forested lands, in a manner that efficiently delivers large quantities of water to the surface without need for pumping. Since water flows along the slope it gets transported over long distances without losing water to seepage and evaporation.

That the system cannot be deliberately destroyed during war had fascinated then rulers because Burhanpur had been a garrison with a strong army of 250,000 at that time. Arz had found the location of the town along the slopes of Satpura range of mountains perfect for tapping such subterranean flow. Though the town has been located on the bank of river Tapti, the protection of troops from likely poisoning of river water was of critical importance. Additionally, it was found that the underground system was almost insensitive to the levels of precipitation, delivering a flow with only gradual variations from wet to dry years. A perfect system was thus in place.

Burhanpur today has grown into a mid-size city of Madhya Pradesh, situated at its south-west border with the neighboring state of Maharashtra. The city has little over 300,000 inhabitants but has no army now. While proud of its history, the city has continued with its rich tradition of producing fine cloth. The local economy is dependent on some 35,000 power looms, producing cloth of desired specification on demand from traders all across. Burhanpur is also remembered as the city in which the Empress Mumtaz Mahal died and where her body was kept until Emperor Shah Jahan could build the Taj Mahal as her final resting place. However, its water works remain the highpoint of its historical legacy.

Timeless wonder

With seven of the waterworks having been lost to sustained neglect and degradation, Kundi Bhandara is last of the waterworks that attract tourists who marvel at the timeless wonder of the Mughal engineering skills. Reports indicate that it was till the early 1990s that six of the eight systems were working to supply water to the town. While two of these were destroyed a long time ago, the three supplied water to Burhanpur and the other three to a nearby village of Bahadurpur. Since the city planners had other ideas on meeting water demand, the age old system has been reduced as heritage site for attracting tourists only.

Come to think of it, the intricate network of underground tunnels contributing to a collection chamber called Jali Karanj could have appropriated municipal funds to sustain water supply to the city. The British had read the system well and strengthened the same by replacing clay pipes of the Mughal era with iron pipes. However, the advent of convenient groundwater extraction pumps led to the decline of the historical waterworks. The denudation of tree cover on the hills and discharge of industrial effluents into water sources have proved to be the proverbial nail on the system. Nature’s hydrological cycle has been seriously violated! 

The question worth asking is: could a time-tested cost-effective system have served the community better than the modern cost-intensive unreliable water delivery system? After all, at the peak of its operations the waterworks were generating as much as 100 lakh litres of water every day which is almost at par with city’s current needs. Further, the system was based on sound geological understanding as long as sustainability of the ‘source’ had remained a social imperative. It would have worked so long as the mountains had remained green, providing necessary groundwater percolation to keep the underground tunnels running.

Official apathy and market intrusion have played critical role in undermining the potential of a system that had the right mix of science, engineering and ecology. That this mix doesn’t hold currency with the state today reflects changes not only in the immediate but also of a larger social and political landscape. Water resources development was managed by the state then, wherein technology of the time was acknowledged within the socio-political arena. Interestingly, the prevailing environment had not only value for ‘innovation’ as a tool for immediate solution to a problem but had factored ‘principle of sustainability’ while incubating such innovations.

Else, such systems would have long disappeared from the face of the earth. The fact that such a system, locally called surangam, does provide potable water to many villagers in the Malabar region today bears testimony to its contemporary relevance. However, crucial issue is that the present state, while framing policy, has been overwhelmed by the technology of its time which does not even count timeless ‘innovation’ as a possible alternative!

(The writer is a water expert with the Ecological Foundation)