Naini Tal Town
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Naini Tal Town,1908
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Head-quarters of Nairn Tal District, United Provinces, with cantonment, situated in 29° 24" N. and 79° 28' E., in a valley of the Gagar range of the Outer Himalayas. Population, 15,164 in September, 1900, and 7,609 in March, 1901, including that of the small cantonment. Up to 1839 the place was resorted to only by the herdsmen of surrounding villages, and though it was mentioned by the Commissioner in official reports, he does not appear to have visited it. It was then discovered by a European, and from 1842 it increased rapidly in size and prosperity. At the time of the Mutiny, NainI Tal formed a refuge for the fugitives from the neighbouring Districts in Rohilkhand. Soon afterwards it became the summer head-quarters of Government, and it is now also the head-quarters of the Commissioner of Kumaun and of a Conservator of Forests. In September, 1880, after three days' continuous rain, a landslip occurred, which caused the death of forty-three Europeans and 108 natives, besides damage to property amounting to about 2 lakhs. Since this disastrous occurrence a complete system of drainage has been carried out at great expense. The valley contains a pear-shaped lake, a little more than two miles in circumference, with a depth of 93 feet. On the north and south rise steep hill-sides clothed with fine forest trees, among which oaks predominate. On the western bank is situated a considerable area of more gently sloping land, from which a level recreation-ground has been excavated. The upper bazar stands above this, and the houses occupied by the European residents are scattered about on the sides of the valley. East of the lake the lower bazar is built on the outer edge of the range. The surface of the lake is 6,350 feet above sea-level ; and the highest peaks are China (8,568) on the north, Deopatha (7,987) on the west, and Ayarpatha (7,461) on the south. The residence of the Lieutenant-Governor, completed in 1900, is a handsome building standing in spacious grounds. The principal public buildings include the Government Secretariat, the District offices, the Ramsay Hospital for Europeans, and male and female dispensaries for natives. There is also an important station of the American Methodist Mission. NainI Tal has been a municipality since 1845. During the ten years ending 1901 the income and expenditure averaged 1 ½ lakhs, including loan funds. The income in 1903-4 was 1-7 lakhs, including house tax (Rs. 34,000), tolls (Rs. 93,000), water-rate (Rs. 23,000), and conservancy tax (Rs. 21,000); and the expenditure was 1-4 lakhs, including repayment of loans and interest (Rs. 23,000), maintenance of water-supply and drainage (Rs. 34,000), and conservancy (Rs. 26,000). Drinking-water is derived from springs, and is pumped up to reservoirs at the top of hills and distributed by gravitation. More than 4 lakhs has been spent on water-supply and drainage, and the introduction of a scheme of electric light is con- templated. The trade of the town chiefly consists in the supply of the wants of the summer visitors ; but there is some through traffic with the hills. Three schools for natives have 220 pupils, and five European schools for boys have 350 pupils and four for girls 250.
The lake
Dry years: May 2017
Vineet Upadhyay, Nainital lake level 18ft below normal, May 26, 2017: The Times of India
Nainital's glistening eye is drying up this sum mer. The water level in Naini lake, from which the town in the panoramic Kumaon Hills derives its name, has fallen by an unprecedented 18 feet below the normal level this summer.
Environmental experts are worried and tourists are dismayed.
At Tallital, the southern end of the lake, there is a “zero“ mark. The depth of the lake and water level are measured from this mark. “In the monsoon, the water level reaches 12 feet above the zero mark, which delineates the normal water level. At pre sent, the level is 18 feet below the mark considered normal,“ Vishal Singh, a senior research scholar from the Centre for Ecology Development and Research (Cedar), said.
“One has to only look at how the shoreline of the lake has receded. This year seems exceptionally bad,“ boatman Rajendra Prasad Shilpi, 50, said, standing by the lake that is Nainital's only source of water. Experts have blamed ille construction, felling of gal construction, felling of trees, concretisation of the catchment area and destruction of natural springs. “Of the 60 natural springs in the city that recharged the lake, only 30 exist today , and even those have an alarmingly decreased water flow,“ Ajay Singh Rawat, former head of Kumaun University's history department, said.
“The level of water in the body is reported to be 18 feet below normal, something I have never witnessed. The lake is going to turn into a mere pond if strict steps are not taken,“ Rawat said. He has been campaigning for long to save the jewel of Nainital. Irrigation department (Kumaon Zone) chief en gineer D C S Khetwal said, “The water level has been declining continuously .“
In the past few summers, the water level had been recorded at three to four feet below zero. Last May , the level of water was two feet below zero. In the 1970s, when the quaint town was emerging as a popular shooting destination for Bollywood and real estate developers had started arriving, the water level in the summer would be measured at one feet below the zero mark.
Another contributing factor, experts pointed out, was the neglect of Sukhatal, which recharges more than 50% of the lake. “Despite strong evidence through research conduct ed by the National Institute of Hydrology approximately 20 years ago about the importance of Sukhatal, it was blatantly neglected by the authorities,“ Vishal Singh of Cedar said. A 2015 study by Cedar, in collaboration with Cambridge University , found Sukhatal provides more than 40% subsurface flow to Naini lake round the year, including in the drier months. Sukhatal can absorb large amounts of rainwater due to its topography , which includes limestone and dolomite.
After Ajay Singh Rawat filed a PIL in the Uttarakhand high court in 2012 requesting the court to convert Nainital into an eco-sensitive zone in order to save the area's ecosystem, the court last year ordered IIT Roorkee to submit a detailed project report about the beautification and recharge of the Sukhatal area.
Experts also said the town and the lake are unable to meet the needs of a burgeoning population and the increased tourist inflow. “The consumption of water in the hill town has increased manifold. Earlier, it was around 6-7 MLD per day; it has now shot up to 16 MLD,“ Rawat said.
There has been no comprehensive research in the last two decades of the changes required to preserve the lake and surrounding water bodies.
The dire state of the eyeshaped water body has prompted concerned citizens to launch a petition on change.org urging chief minister T S Rawat to save the lake. The petition has garnered more than a thousand signatures in a few weeks, including those of celebrities such as singer Shubha Mudgal. A barefoot march is also being organised in the city on June 3 to raise awareness of the need to save the lake.'
Water supply and requirements
2018: reducing supply from the Lake
The Uttarakhand irrigation department has decided to curtail supply of water from Naini lake from 14 million litres per day to 8 million litres in an attempt to save the lake whose water levels had dipped dangerously last year. The decision came on the basis of recommendations made in a preliminary survey conducted by experts from Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee and Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Dehradun.
Elaborating on the proposal, Lalit Kumar, chief engineer of the irrigation department said, “The findings of the survey suggested that curtailment of water supply from the lake is an immediate step that can be implemented in order to safeguard the lake.” On being queried if 8 MLD water supply would be sufficient to cater to the requirements of the town, Kumar said, “The curtailment will be done for the next few months when tourist rush is expected to be low. Therefore, the reduced water supply can meet the town’s needs.” He added that during the peak tourist season in summer, “we will consider raising the water supply to 14 MLD but not more than that.”
