Burhanpur ensures water security, resolves Mughal era structure

BURHANPUR: Buckle up for today Urban Update has a story for you.

The climate change vulnerability assessment report from the year 2016-2017 placed Burhanpur among the ten water vulnerable districts of Madhya Pradesh (MP). Overall MP also made it to the Climate Vulnerability Assessment for Adaptation Planning report in 2019-2020 as “moderately vulnerable.” 

Imagine the era of walking miles to fetch water. Now bring it to 21st century and at the heart of the Deccan headquarters of the Mughals from 1399. Due to Burhanpur’s rich history of good rulers, the district has an ancient yet functioning underground water harvesting system. Yet the city was not able to capitalise on its advantageous location and rich resources. 

However, 2021 changed the story for Burhanpur. Now, it is the first district in Madhya Pradesh that has a functional tap-water connection in 99.95 per cent of the households. According to Jal Jeevan Mission dashboard, maintained by the Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India, the district has 1,01,905 water connections out of 1,01,952 households. 

The city got over its dry days by reviving and maintaining the traditional water structures while enhancing its resilience to climate change. In March 2019, the Ministry of Forest, Environment and Climate Change, Government of India, under its Climate Change Action Programme initiated a project to converse the existing water systems. The project acknowledged the heritage city network known for ‘Qanats’ – a unique 400 years old traditional water harvesting system, consists of underground channels that convey water from aquifers in highlands to the surface at lower levels. 

The main tagline of the project was to increase the community participation in further ‘water-proofing’ the system. In the long run, the project aimed at increasing awareness levels among the socio-economic groups about the surface and groundwater used along with its conservations.