British legacy left to rot

Nitish Sharma

The duct water supply system devised by the British to supply water to Ambala Cantonment and Ambala City in 1870-80 has a historic significance, but no attention has ever been paid to save this legacy. 

In the absence of maintenance, the heritage water system is slowly losing its sheen.

The system found mention in a recent political meeting. While the elderly present in the meeting were aware of it, the next generation might not even be able to see it.

The system was based on a series of shallow wells located on a high ground on the banks of Tangri River, which is near Handesra village (now in Punjab). The water level was high (about 16 feet), and was collected into a big well from shallow wells. The big well was covered with a dome at two water works. Water flowed from these big wells, which kept filling throughout the day from shallow wells, through the underground drains based on gravity.

Due to a massive earthquake in 1905, the water level went down and it couldn’t flow into the ducts. So, the British engineers installed a steam engine at Handesra and Boda Kheyra Water Works each, to pump up the water. The steam engine was replaced by oil engine driven centrifugal pumps in 1932-33. 

The system was decommissioned in 1965 and the wells have not been cleaned or de-silted since then.

Colonel RD Singh (retd) said such valuable pieces of heritage need to be preserved, so that we can build upon our rich past, and the youth can be motivated to think out of the box. The open chambers on the roads are being used as dumping zones.  

Ajay Baweja, vice-president, Cantonment Board, Ambala, said: “The duct water supply system has a heritage value, but unfortunately there hasn’t been any effort to preserve it so far. A major part of the system such as the pumping station is in Punjab now, but the parts of the drains and the chambers which are under the limits of Ambala Cantonment can be preserved and the board will try to preserve this piece of innovative marvel and also make it a tourist attraction.”