Hyderabad : tradition bungled

Mohd. Quli Qutub Shah founded Hyderabad in 1591 on the banks of river Musi. The city has a glorious tradition of tanks built by the rulers. The first source of water supply to the city was the Hussainsagar lake. Named after Hussain Shah Wali, the lake was built in 1562 on the tributary of Musi. It covered an area of 8 sq. miles. In 1891, a slow - sand filter was set up in Narayanaguda and the lake was used to provide drinking water. The water of Hussain Sagar was sufficient for the people of Hyderabad then.

Most of the tanks in Hyderabad were built by Qutub Shahs (1564-1724 A.D.), and their successor Asaf Jahi (1724-1748 A.D.). As population grew, two other tanks, Himayatsagar (built in 1927) and Osmansagar (built in 1913) started supplying water to the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, which were constructed to control floods after the 1908 inundation of the city.