Hyderabad: In a little over a month, on May 8, Hyderabad celebrates one hundred years of a project that started with an estimate of Rs.60 lakh and after all these years is still part of everyday life in the city .
Osman Sagar, also popular as Gandipet, is not only a reservoir that has quenched the city’s thirst for 100 years, but is also one of the most popular tourist resorts in the city. On May 8, it will be a century since the project was completed, after it was considered a new scheme of water supply to Hyderabad and to prevent flooding in the Musi River.
After the devastating Musi flood in 1908, the then Nizam asked the legendary engineering expert, M Visvesvaraya, to investigate the cause.
Visvesvaraya recommends the construction of two reservoirs across the Musi and Easa rivers at an estimated cost of 1.28 million. It was approved on March 5, 1910 by the 6th Nizam, the late Mir Mahboob Ali Khan. As the water supply to Hyderabad and Secunderabad was insufficient, the 7th Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan first ordered the construction of the reservoir over Musi by farman (command). on July 15, 1912.
The project would cost 57.35 lakh, according to an expert Arun, according to Run. Taking into account the possibility of price fluctuations, Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan on 11 November 1915 approved a Rs60 lakh for a project for a project, a copy of which is available at Telangana Today.
With the approval of the budget, work began on the new water scheme on July 15, 1916. As Arun left for Europe, the project was assigned to another person, who was identified in records as AW Stone Bridge. According to records and orders in the classical Urdu language available at the Telangana State Archives and Research Institute, the project was completed on May 8, 1921.
According to the records, the cost of the project rose to Rs 89,37,810 in 1924 due to delay and allegedly due to some mismanagement by Stone Bridge, who was in charge of the project, and also by his successor.
‘According to the records, most of the project works were completed on May 8, 1921. After this, water was supplied to Hyderabad. There were grievances from the residents of Secunderabad about water supply. Even before the project work started, there was correspondence between the Government of India and the Nizam Government about this for 11 years. Eventually, after an agreement, the water supply to Secunderabad and Cantonment areas started, ‘says the director of the State Archives, Zareena Parveen.
Prior to the construction of Osman Sagar, Hyderabad had two main water sources, one of which was the Hussain Sagar and the other, Mir Alam Tank. The initial plans were to supply water from Osman Sagar to Mir Alam Tank and Hussain Sagar via either side of the reservoir through open channels.
However, this plan was suspended on the advice of India’s chief expert on health security, Colonel Clement, who cited epidemics in Pune and said harmful substances and other pollutants could go into open channels during the rainy season. And the water was supplied by rocky walled nallahs and directly from Osman Sagar.
Source: Telangana Today