The government’s efforts to clean and excavate the Surang Bavi or Karez system, the underground aquaducts built in the medieval era, have yielded results.
Water began flowing out of the mouth of the cave that leads to the duct from Tuesday afternoon, attracting residents of Naubad and surrounding areas who were thrilled to see the stream. Water that gushed out of the Karez gallery got collected in the kalyani of the nearby Sangameshwar temple before running into the fields in the Manjra river valley below.
Word of the water flow in the Surang that had remained dry for years spread fast. Scores of men, women and children came over to see the spectacle. They got down the steps of the cave, walked in the knee deep water, threw it all around them and even tried to drink the water collected in the temple kalyani. All along the way, they clicked pictures on their phones, recorded videos and took selfies. “It has been at least 30 years since I have seen water flow here,” says Sharanappa Poste, who runs a tea shop in Naubad.
V. Govindan Kutty, groundwater expert from Kerala University, had traced the path of the Karez lines on the outskirts of Bidar city. The ‘Y’ shaped structure runs for around 3.3 km on the longer side. There are air vents every 50 metres and only 23 vents have been identified till now. “I was confident that it would yield water if cleaned. Here are the results for all to see,” he said.
Kishor Raykar, head of the Indian Heritage Cities Network, submitted a report with suggestions to protect the structure from encroachers and preserve it so that it starts yielding water again. Majid L. Khanieki, historic hydrological expert from Iran, visited the site earlier this year.
The Surang Bavis were built by the Behmani Kings to connect mountain streams and lineaments. Carved in laterite stone, they also work as rainwater harvesting and purifying structures. They connect the Karanja river valley on Kalaburagi road to the Manjra valley on the Karnataka-Telangana border near Aliabad village. Ghulam Yazdani, former Director of Archaeology in the erstwhile Nizam state of Hyderabad, has noted that local labourers worked under the guidance of Persian engineers.
The Tourism Department had begun cleaning the aquaducts two months ago. Around 90 labourers worked under the supervision of Abdul Samad, who specialises in repair of heritage structures. The directorate has approved a development plan of Rs. 3 crore and released Rs. 50 lakh till now, said Kishor Joshi, Assistant Director of Tourism.
