Bidar: The district administration’s mapping of the innovative underground water supply tunnels built here centuries ago during the Bahamani period is making good progress.
The dynasty that ruled between 1347- 1518 AD built the complex and extensive subterranean tunnels, called the Karez system, to supply water to the ancient city.
The tunnels, which pass through most part of the old and outer parts of the city, are now being mapped by the Indian Heritage Cities Network (IHCN), an agency hired by the district administration. Mr M.L. Khaneiki, a ground water expert from UNESCO’s hydrological structures in Iran, who visited Bidar a few months ago, is expected here in March again to suggest ways to restore the system. There are an estimated 50,000 qanats in Iran and nearly 75 per cent of them are still working. So much so that the Iranian government has constituted a ministry for them
“We have taken up landscaping of one line of the Karez system from Aliabad to Naubad and found 29 wells, one every 50 meters. There could be another four or five wells here,” said a senior member of the agency, which has been working in Bidar since 2013 for the restoration of the Karez system. “The work has given us an insight into the magnificent water system that existed centuries ago,” he added.
The Karez or Qanat system taps into the ground water sources or natural springs and carries the water through underground tunnels to settlements. It accumulates the water in the surface canals and pools in a village to be used for various purposes.
According to IHCN, the Karez system is one of the most environmentally sustainable historical traditional water supply systems , but is today on the verge of extinction. “Since this system is simple to maintain and is self sustaining , it can be of great economic significance for the local population,” stressed its members. The district administration has meanwhile started cleaning the ‘karez’ or ‘surang bavis’, the underground water channels of Bidar, in an attempt to recharge the ground-water level in Bidar, which is going through one of the driest periods in its history. It has so far completed cleaning of 21 wells and the remaining will be cleaned in a couple of months.
