Badi Baoli provides a silver lining
The well, which was recently restored by Aga Khan Trust for Culture, managed to accumulate one lakh litres of water during Wednesday’s showers
hen it rains, it pours. And perhaps the impact of Wednesday’s showers could not have been felt anywhere else more than at the Qutb Shahi tombs premises, where the Badi Baoli alone managed to accumulate one lakh litres of water. The 16th century structure, which had collapsed in 2013, has now been restored, and water channels have been created to let water gather easily and avoid damage to it.
“We want to maximise the usage of water collected from rains, and have hence made some additional channels which feed into the original ones” –Ratish Nanda, CEO, AKTC
“The 19th century addition of the arcade had resulted in the creation of an obstacle in the rainwater channel leading to the Baoli,” said Ratish Nanda, CEO, Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), the organisation which is currently restoring the Qutb Shahi tombs. After restoration works were taken up post the collapse, an alternative water channel was created to ensure that rainwater collects in the Baoli as it originally used to.
There are six large step-wells in the Qutb Shahi tombs. On Wednesday, after it rained heavily for more than two hours, one lakh litres of water had been collected in the Badi Baoli, and another 80,000 litres in the Baoli behind the Hamam (bath). Mr. Nanda said ground levels in the area north of the Baoli in the Hamam were restored to allow unhindered slope for rain water into the Baoli.
Ismailimail 