Hyderabad: Osman Sagar reservoir whose water caters to the needs of the residents of Hyderabad will complete 100 years on May 8. The reservoir which is popularly known as Gandipet is also a favourite tourist spot in the city.
The project came into existence to prevent flooding in the Musi River as well as to implement a new water scheme for the residents of Hyderabad.
It may be mentioned that after the devastating flood in Musi River in 1908, the then Nizam of Hyderabad had asked the expert M. Visvesvaraya to find the reasons behind it. After analyzing the reasons, the expert came up with the advice on the construction of two reservoirs over the Musi and Easa rivers at a cost of 1.28 crores which was approved by the sixth Nizam Mir Mahboob Ali Khan on March 5, 1910.
Due to insufficient water supply to twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, the seventh Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan commissioned the construction of a reservoir over Musi first through an order on July 15, 1962.
The project was estimated to cost 57.35 lakhs as per an expert Arun. Keeping in mind the fluctuations in price, Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan approved 60 lakhs on November 11, 1915, by issuing an order. The project works began on July 15, 1916. After Arun left for Europe, the project work was assigned to another person identified in records as AW Stone Bridge who completed the project on May 8, 1921.
