Water Management of erstwhile rulers

Udaipur: The continuous and unchecked flow of human waste and sewage into the water bodies is threatening the sustainable use of Lake Pichhola, a vital resource of drinking water for Udaipurites.Of the present water requirement of the city of about 96 mld (million litres per day), 18.5 mld is pumped from Pichhola while 12 mld is received from Fatehsagar lake. However, each day gallons of raw sewage and rubbish is flowing into the lakes from houses, hotels and guest houses near its shores.According to the latest estimate, leakages in the 10-year-old sever pipe lines laid between Rangsagar-Pichhola is causing 15,000 litres of waste water and human waste spill into the water bodies per hour."This is a very serious situation. Urban runoff and sewage seepage from the groundwater is entering lakes which can cause elevated levels of nitrates and phosphates. These can lead to harmful algal blooms and eutrophication, which can pose serious health risks to both aquatic and human health," said Anil Mehta, a water scientist.On Sunday, a team comprising activists, technical staff of the Udaipur Municipal Corporation and authorities made a field visit to assess the situation.Superintendent engineer Arun Vyas, engineer Satyanarayan Sharma, BL Kothari, activists Nandkishore Sharma, Anil Mehta, TejShankar Paliwal discussed on the issue."Besides the repair and maintenance of the old sewage lines, we will ensure that the sewer lines which are under construction presently pass a leakage test before it is earthed," Paras Singhvi, chairman of the construction committee of UMC said."There are only 3,000 house sewer connections, most of them are broken and with reverse flow, hence we need compulsory house connection. Storm water inflow to lake may be allowed only after segregation of floating matter, debris and solid waste by constructing catch drains, silt arrestors, grit chambers, screen chambers, setting tanks, and sand beds for water filtration.Sewer maintenance must be taken seriously and cleaning of chocked sewer lines must be immediate" suggest Dr Mahesh Sharma, a retired professor and member of task force.Water need of the growing city during the 17th and 18th century was met by converting the Pichhola (which was built as a dam by a Banjara in 1362 CE) from a small pond to a large lake behind a masonry gravity dam- Badi Paal. Its capacity further increased through the addition of Rang Sagar (1680s), Amar Kund (1760s), Kumhariya Talab and finally the norther most extension called Swaroop Sagar. Lakes at Dewali and Badi constructed by Maharana Jai Singh and Rang Sagar directly helped Udaipur to get water supply till late 20th century. In 1931 water supply through gravity pipelines from Swaroop Sagar was launched for Udaipur. "In 1944, SAV Consulting Engineers were commissioned to prepare water distribution system for the city which was a totally new concept" informed earth scientist Dr P.S Ranawat. It was in 1945 that the water of dug wells downstream of Pichhola were chemically analyzed and found potable. "To the delight of the people 20 public taps were installed for the convenient supply of water near their homes" Ranawat added.