Bidar struggles to protect LEGACY Bahmani Water Legacy

BIDAR: Around 5km from Bidar headquarters towards Bhalki is Naubad village. A right exit from the highway here and a dusty road drive of 1km leads to Siddeshwar Mandir, an old temple. Alongside the temple, as one proceeds, clearing the bushes, there is the sound of water flowing steadily, some 25ft below, in a well. That sound follows continuously, with wells lined up every 50m leading to the tunnel network of an ancient water system that is still alive.
Called karez system (qanat in Arabic and Surang Bhavi in Kannada), this system of sloping wells to transfer water from the water table to the surface for drinking and irrigation dates back around 500 years.The system in Naubad is very similar to qanat systems found in Iran.An international conference held recently in Bidar, organized by Unesco New Delhi's Indian Heritage Cities Network (IHCN) Foundation and International Center on Qanats and Historic Hydraulic Structures of Iran, explored the similarities and the way forward for these systems. Besides archaeologists, engineers and conservation professionals, experts who work with the ministries of culture, water, agriculture and environment took part in the deliberations.
Majid L Khanieki, a hydrological expert from Iran, said Bidar's karez system was among the best known underground water systems in the world. He said Iran too has a history of such water systems but the ones in Bidar seemed to be more complex and aesthetic.
The karez water system is estimated to have been built in Bidar during the Bahmani Period (1347 ­ 1518 AD). However, the legacy remained buried till Valliyil Govindankutty , an assistant professor from a Kerala college, documented it in 2013.Of the 28 air vents (wells) along the length of 2.9km mapped of the Naubad karez, the district administration has made 16 vents accessible over the years.
Besides district officials Harsh Gupta, Dr PC Jaffer and Anurag Tewari, local youngsters under the Bidar Youth United for Vigilance, Aware ness and Action (YUVAA) contributed to the restoration.Apart from Naubad, the karez system is found in `Shukla Theerth', which is the longest system in Bidar town, and in `Jamna Mori' in the old city area.
Vinay Malge, co-founder of Bidar YUVAA recalls how the entire Bidar town came alive after water started flowing within a year of desilting and other restoration work. But efforts were abandoned midway .“As part of the restoration plan, the karez wells had to be given safety walls, the parapet had to be constructed and more importantly, the remaining karez tunnels had to be restored. We have re stored just 25% of the karez tunnels we have,“ he said.
At Naubad, there is not even a board to highlight the tunnel system. Garbage has been dumped at some vents. “The administration had installed some boards but some miscreants made away with them,“ said Vinay .
An IHCN member said road projects pro posed by the Bidar Urban Develop ment Au thority would destroy what re mained of the ka re z sys tem. “Such largescale infrastructure projects, which propose to acquire agriculture zones that feed the karez system, could harm it drastically,“ she said.
A senior district administration official said they were in the process of getting funds for karez restoration in the town through the tourism department and Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation.“Soon, there will be some real action on the ground,“ he said.
THE IRAN CONNECTION
The karez or qanat water system has been successful in many arid and semi-arid regions of the world in Asia, Africa and even Europe and Latin America. However, the origin of qanat technology is said to be in ancient Iran where the Persians developed it in the early 1st millennium BC. It is said to have spread thereafter and some 38 countries in the world have such a system. Iran is documented to have had more than 50,000 qanats during the middle of the 20th century and latest estimates say around 35,000 of them are alive.In Gonabad city of Iran, a 45km qanat built more than 2,700 years ago is still in use, providing water to around 40,000 people. This is also the site of the world's oldest qanat and is recognised by UNESCO as a world heritage site. In India, karez systems are known to have developed during the reign of Muslim dynasties descending from Persia or having influential connections or links with Iranian or Persian engineers.Such systems can be found in Bidar, Vijayapura (erstwhile Bijapur), Pune and Aurangabad (Maharashtra), Burhanpur of Madhya Pradesh and a few other places. Bidar's karez system is said to be the first implemented in India as the Bahmani Sultanate was the first medieval Muslim kingdom to have links with Persia.