Did you know this year marks the 100 year of protected drinking water supply in Chennai?
Have you ever been curious about how the north Chennai locality, Seven Wells, got its name?
A photo exhibition organised by Metrowater at the India Tourism and Trade Fair on Island Grounds has all the answers. Visitors to the fair get a glimpse of the origin and progress in water supply over the past centuries, through several rare photographs on display.
Neatly framed in black and white, the photographs also provide crisp notes on the circumstances behind those frozen moments.
From 1872, water from Red Hills lake has been transported through open canals to Kilpauk Water Works. But, after an outbreak of cholera, these open channels were converted to closed conduit lines in 1914. Chennai was given protected water supply from December 17, 1914.
The chronological journey of water supply network starts with a picture of a woman in the then Madarasapattinam drawing water from a well in 1772. Initially, water was drawn from wells and supplied to the city.
When the population increased, Madras Government Seven Wells Water Distribution Scheme was started. These wells are located near Vallalar Nagar bus stand. It is from here water was drawn in buckets and delivered through iron pipes to Fort St. George.
Many such photographs and fascinating facts on the Red Hills reservoir, maps of Madarasapattinam and lorry water supply in the 1950s are on display at the exhibition.
The historic moment of agreement between Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh on sharing Krishna water has also been captured in a picture.
Visitors can also get their groundwater samples tested for a concessional rate of Rs. 60 at the Metrowater stall.
