Katraj aqueduct! An idea far ahead of its time

By the middle of the 18th century, the Maratha empire had grown well beyond its home in the Sahyadris. The richness and glory of the empire were reflected in the imposing wadas and other structures built in the capital city of Pune. The city also grew as new areas of Ganj peth, Nihal peth etc were added to it. Balaji Bajirao, or Nanasaheb Peshwa took firm steps towards the development of the city, especially towards providing Pune with a clean water supply.

By the 1750s, as the de facto capital of a burgeoning empire, Pune was a sought-after city by people from far and wide. New areas — peths — were set up all through the latter half of the 18th century.

Dams were built on the Ambhil stream around 7 km south of Shaniwarwada at Katraj, creating two ponds — upper one for settling silt and the lower for water storage. A stone aqueduct — basically a stone pipeline — was also built to bring water to the city. Sluices and channels were cut in such a way that minimal silt or impurities remained and at the same time there was room for maintenance to be carried out. In the city, the aqueduct catered to various public tanks or houds — such as the Nana houd and Kala houd, as also private wells within wadas and, of course, the Shaniwarwada itself. There is a defunct stone fountain at the Shaniwarwada known as Hazari Karanja, which was also supposedly powered by this same aqueduct. This fountain, as also others, worked on the principle of siphoning or capillary action. Another interesting addition to the aqueduct was the digging of a lake or bunch of lakes at the bottom of Parvati hill. This worked both as a sump during times of excess water and as a backup system if the aqueduct could not be used to full capacity. The Bombay Gazetteer of 1885 details this Katraj aqueduct right down to the dimensions of the aqueduct, cross-section, discharge etc! So how much water did it supply? The same Gazetteer says that the Katraj aqueduct provided a daily supply of 26 lakh litres! Not bad, considering the city population hovered around 1 lakh for much of the 18th and 19th centuries. The man credited with bringing this giant task to realisation was Naro Appaji Tulshibaugwale. Legend has it, that once while visiting Parvati to supervise construction of the lake at the base, Nanasaheb Peshwa found the workers lethargic and slow. So, he himself got down from his horse and proceeded to lift the muck and mud. The workers immediately got their act together! The lake covered 25 acres of land. Over time it dried up and was replaced by a large garden familiar today as Sarasbaug. A temple originally on an island in the middle of the lake is still visible.

Towards the 1780s and 1790s, three more aqueducts were built. Like the older aqueducts, these, too, supplied water to houds and private wells. Interestingly, when the Panshet dam burst in 1961 (and Pune’s water supply emptied onto the streets), these wells remained one of the very few sources of potable water! The corporation required people to put up signboards declaring there was a well in the house! In fact, right up to 1915, the water supply system built by Nanasaheb Peshwa was providing drinking water to old city areas. It gradually grew less in importance as Pune grew and dams such as Panshet were built. Waters of Katraj though were still being used in Bibwewadi and Sahakarnagar in 1970, albeit with modern pipelines. Construction and neglect through the 20th century have rendered this ancient pipeline unfit for use.

Thus, the longevity and utility of the Katraj and other aqueducts showed that the people of those times were well versed with the topography of the land and had put their ideas to good use. Being able to supply 26 lakh litres of water on a daily basis is a big achievement! Come to think of it, city planners of the 1750s faced problems very similar to our own!

The writer is the author of Brahmaputra — Story of Lachit Barphukan, and, Sahyadris to Hindukush — Maratha conquest of Lahore and Attock