Khooni bhandara, a unique underground water management system developed by the Mughals in the seventeenth century in Burhanpur, Khandwa district, Madhya Pradesh, is being jointly revived by Burhanpur Municipal Corporation and Khandwa district administration, to supply clean and adequate drinking water to the city all year round. This initiative will also promote tourism in the region. Since the revival initiative began in December 2000, the water supply has increased by 0.11 million litres per day.

During their reign, the Mughals developed Burhanpur extensively, as the base for their expansion in south India. Nature has endowed the region with ample water resources. The city is situated on the banks of the rivers Tapti and Utavali and receives about 880 mm of average annual rainfall. However, how to effectively utilise the available wealth to meet the needs of two lakh army personnel and 35,000 civilians emerged as an issue of serious concern for the Mughal subedar, Abdul Raheem Khankhana.

Khankhana came up with the idea of developing an underground water system as a precautionary measure to prevent the enemy from poisoning the drinking water. Tabkutul Arj, a Persian geologist brought his ideas to life. In 1615, he constructed khooni bhandara, consisting of 103 kundis (well like storage structures) constructed in a row and interconnected with each other through a 3.9 km long underground marble tunnel. According to newspaper reports, as the colour of water was slightly reddish, it was called 'khooni'. The quality of water is equivalent to that of mineral water.

This system was developed to effectively check the flow of rainwater from the Satpura hills flowing towards the river Tapti. The design is based on the simple law of gravity. The water flows smoothly from the first kundi constructed on the Satpura hill (almost 30 m above city's ground level) to the last kundi. The diameter (0.75 m to 1.75 m) and depth (6 to 24 m) of these kundis varies according to their location. In other words, the first kundi is relatively much deeper than the last one. These 103 kundis also provide entry points to the underground system to do requisite repair works. Today ropes have replaced the iron stairs as a mode to reach underground.

This system is so intelligently designed that it uses gravitional force instead of external energy for the supply of water to Burahanpur city.

Since its construction, the system has supplied water to the people for nearly 312 years. It was damaged in 1977 and remained out of sight for about 12 years. Since 1989, it started attracting the engineers and historians, who made several unsuccessful attempts to revive it, primarily due to the lack of funds.

The annual water storage capacity of the khooni bhandara has also declined considerably. Its initial in-built capacity was to store one million liters of water, which reduced to 0.15 million liters in 1975-76. In 1997, it was merely 0.04 million liters. The reasons for this continuous decline includes:

Thickening layers of calcium and magnesium on the tunnel walls are reducing the volume of water that flows through these walls
    People forgot their traditional water supply systems, as the municipal corporation started supplying piped drinking water from the river Utavali
    The degree of siltation increased, as some kundis collapsed, blocking the tunnel with debris
    Kundis used as private wells
    Kundis used as dustbins
    The unchecked discharge of chemical waste from the powerloom plant in the city, lead to the contamination of tunnel water
   
Increasingly the corporation is unable to meet the safe drinking needs of the city. In May 2000, eleven people died and more than 600 reported sick, as coliform bacteria (EColi) infected the corporation's water supply. In 2001, the low rainfall prominently highlighted the corporation's inability to meet the city's daily water requirements of 0.6 million litres.

It was only natural for the people and administration to revive khooni bhandara. Praveen Garg, district collector of Khandwa, after visiting the area announced that district administration would undertake the revival initiatives.

The district administration received a contribution of Rs 15 lakh for the three phase revival plan that they developed. The urban development authority also mobilised Rs 10 lakh for the renovation of the three km long tunnel. A provision of a lift is also being made for entering into khooni bhandara from the third kundi, which is being developed as a major tourist attraction.

The first phase is in progress. The disiltation process and the repair work on three kundis that were in the ruins has been completed. The results of the work are positive, as the water has again started flowing in the tunnel.

Khankhana's wisdom occupies the same place of significance today, as it did in his days - solving drinking water problems locally.

For further information:
Jai Nagda
c/o Veena Studio, Mahatma Gandhi Marg, Khandwa,
Madhya Pradesh 450 001
Tel: 0733 26178
An inside view of the narrowing tunnel wall