In these times of water scarcity, it is perhaps salutary to look at water systems built in the past. In February this year, one such system, dating to the eighteenth-century, was uncovered in Pune, Maharashtra. While this 15-kilometre long, 30-feet deep, 5-feet wide underground waterbody was not exactly unknown, it had almost receded from public memory. The credit for re-discovering it goes to a team comprising water contractors Shrikrishna and Sriram Bhagwat, their friend Nandkumar Bangude and journalist Sharad Lonkar.

This underground duct, commissioned by Peshwa Baji Rao ii in 1749, functions even today. It is quite an intricate system comprising two lakes, dams and canals. During monsoons, the smaller of the two lakes, Ambil Odha, gets water from a canal also called by the same name. This water is blocked by a 600-feet long stone dam and seeps into the larger second lake, the Katraj. Here it is checked by a 1,000 feet long stone dam. Katraj is also serviced by many natural springs. Both dams have small gates at the base, which are presently closed. In the past, they were used as sluice gates, to release excess waters back into the Ambil Odha canal. From the Katraj, water flows down to an underground canal, which takes it to Shaniwarwada