Right from quenching thirst to cleaning vehicles and utensils in the nearby eateries, this decades-old well opposite Russell Market continues to have enough and more water.
It was water from this well that came to the rescue of traders, who were fighting the inferno in the early hours on February 25 that partially gutted the iconic Russell Market. Water level did not deplete despite water being pumped out for over five hours to douse the fire.
Urban lore has it that the well was dug even before the market was built in 1927. According to the locals, when the British came from Madras (now known as Chennai) to Bangalore to set up a settlement, they looked for a place where water was available in plenty. They found that Shivajinagar met all their requirements and established their Cantonment here.
Never dry
Mohammed Idrees Choudhury, general secretary of the Russell Market Fruits and Vegetable Merchants' Association, told The Hindu the well was the only source of water for several residents for many decades. “For five long hours, water was pumped out. Still, the water level did not depreciate. We were amazed at this phenomenon,” he said.
“We have been told by our parents that the well was in fact connected via tunnels to two other wells in the area. Unfortunately, these wells do not exist anymore, but the tunnels are still open,” he said.
The well, known now simply as the Russell Market well, was connected to Raabu Baudi and Sait Baudi, both around half a km away. “The water from the well is still as refreshing as it was before. The well is quite deep. There is a huge mesh at a certain depth. This was installed a long time ago, probably by the British themselves, to prevent people jumping into the well,” he said.
Hameedulla Khan, a long-time resident of the area, said that though the mouth of the well is small, the well was in fact quite wide. The market was constructed over water. “The British used pillars to construct the market over water. It is this water that keeps it cool during the summer and warm during winters,” he said.
Water pumped out of the well to contain the devastating fire on February 25 was not the first time that the well has been used extensively.
Running deep
“In 1984, an ‘Izthama' (a religious gathering) was held in Palace Grounds. People from across the country attended. For a whole month, nearly 150 tanker loads of water were drawn from the well every day to prepare the grounds before the event and subsequently for use during the three-day event. The water level did not go down.” For several years, water from the well was used during the St. Mary's Feast celebrations.
Despite Cauvery water supplied to the area, this celebrated well continues to serve the locals, many of whom depend on this water source to this day.
The caption was corrected for grammatical and spelling errors.
