Story of Himayat Sagar Dam in Hyderabad

Himayat Sagar is a magnificent engineered water reservoir and dam buiqlt on the river Esi, a tributary of the river Musi entering Hyderabad. The tributary stream Esi is named after prophet Esa/Jesus peace be upon him and the main stream of Musi is named after Prophet Musa/Moses peace be upon him. The Himayat Sagar and Osman Sagar are the two water reservoir which provide continuous water supply to twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. 

HISTORY

Himayat Sagar was built during the reign of the last Nizam (7th) of Hyderabad Mir Osman Ali Khan of the princely state of Hyderabad, the largest princely state in British India. He ascended the throne on 29 August 1911 at the age of 25 and ruled the kingdom of Hyderabad between 1911 and 1948. During his reign, Himayat Sagar dam was constructed which is named after his youngest son Himayat Ali Khan, under the chief architect Sir M Visvesvaraya assisted by Ali Nawaz Jung Bahadur. Sir M Visvesvaraya, a Bharat Ratna, was also Chief Engineer of Krishna Raja Sagara dam in the north west suburb of Mysuru city. His birthday on September 15 is celebrated as India's Engineer's day. Government of Telangana announced that Ali Nawaz Jung Bahadur birthday would be celebrated as Telanagana Engineer's day on 11 July for his immense contribution to Engineering and people of Telangana. 

THE STORY OF FLOOD

In the year 1908, the river Musi and Esi had flooded the streets of the city after torrential rainfall and add to it a cloudburst. The rain water poured into the small irrigation tanks penetrating the city. The overburdened walls of the tanks gave in the way under the pressure of such high volume of rain water pouring. The flood level rose to such an unprecedented heights, leaving a trail of death and destruction everywhere. Nearly 19000 houses collapsed and about 15000 lives were lost and around 1 lakh people which was roughly one quarter of the city's population was left homeless. At least 12 such floods had been caused by the river Musi in the past but the devastation caused in 1908 was unprecedented. The sixth Nizam of Hyderabad, Mahboob Ali Khan, personally supervised the rescue operations and distributed relief supplies among the floods victim. He also opened his royal palaces for the victims while the royal kitchens fed over 5 lakh of them for several days. Mahboob Ali Khan also took several measures to combat a similar flood in the future, including commissioning Visvesvaraya as an adviser and consultant for Hyderabad’s flood management plan. The British had wanted to send their own expert but the Nizam had heard of Visvesvaraya’s engineering expertise and decided to choose him for this crucial project.

Musi Flood of 1908

The construction of the Himayat Sagar was completed in 1927 preventing another catastophic flooding to Hyderabad. Not only it proved to prevent flooding reservoirs have also satiated the drinking water needs of the city for decades. The storage capacity of the reservoir is about 3 TMC. 

Recent Event

In the year 2020 and 2021, due to good rainfall the water levels raised in the Himayat Sagar reaching the full tank level. All the gates of the dam had to be opened to let the excess water into the Musi river which flows through the city by Hyderabad Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB).  This led to the water enter into houses in several houses in areas on the banks of the river especially in Chaderghat and Moosarambagh. 

TOURISM

It's a reservoir with sluice gates in case water needs to be released downstream and there's a nearby park.  At a distance of 18 Kms from Nampally Railway Station, Himayat Sagar Lake in the outskirts of the city lies parallel to Osman Sagar lake. Reaching the place is quite easy. Take the APPA Junction  exit on the ORR and come towards the Himayat Sagar Road. There are plenty of sign board to follow so not worry of getting lost. There is a parking ready to accommodate around 30 -40 cars. The vehicle parking is free. Once you are in the place, you see 2 gates, one for the park and other for the reservoir. The park beside the reservoir also had some nice species of flowers and birds. There's a small play area for kids.

TIMING 

Morning: 5:00 AM to 8:00 AM

Evening: 4:00 AM to 6:00 AM

^{This is a best place for morning walker and joggers along the reservoir and then take some rest in the park. The stretch is 0.5 Km.} The reservoir and parking is free, however, for the park, adults are charges 15/- per head.

^{Coming to the food, you see a lot of bhutta(corn) sellers. Right opposite to the place you have small refreshments points with some tea and bhajji sellers. In the evening there are vendors selling fish fry, it's cheap and tastes great, non veg lovers can have a bite. Mostly these are pamphlet fishes.} 

^{Location: Click the link to get the direction.}

Author: Mohamed Irfan A

Himayat Sagar Dam

Sun Set at Himayat Sagar Reservoir

Kids playing around the Himayat Sagar

Art of Catching the SUN @Himayat Sagar