Powai Lake - History

History

Before the lake was built by the British, in the year 1799 A.D., the estate where the lake is now located was leased on a yearly rent to Dr. Scott and after his death in 1816 A.D., the government took control of the estate in 1826 A.D., and leased it once again to Mr. Framaji Kavasji, then the vice-president of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of Western India. after whom the lake was named when it was built in 1891.

A stream tributary of the Mithi river, which served the Powai village's water supply needs, was dammed in 1891, during the British period, initially to augment water supply to the Bombay city (now called Mumbai), by constructing two dams of 10 m height each to store the rain waters flowing from the lower slopes of the Western Ghats and streams from the eastern and northeastern slopes of hills. It was planned as an antiwater famine measure, to the southeast of Vihar Lake (a much larger lake) also for water supply to Mumbai city. The scheme was taken in hand in 1889. Though it was completed within a year at an initial cost of more than Rs. 6,50,000 and started providing two million gallons of water per day, it had to be abandoned due to the hue and cry against the quality of the water. Five lakhs of rupees more were spent on the scheme in 1919 in a vain attempt to restore the supply at least for the use of the suburbs, but this, too, was given up with the development of the Tansa works.

After the drinking water supply objective of the lake was abandoned in the early 1890s, in view of poor quality of the water stored, caused due to pollution, water hyacinth and weeds, untreated sewage and large silt deposit, the lake was leased out to the Western India Fishing Association, a quasi government organisation, who used it for both fish culture and angling. Later, the Bombay Presidency Angling Association was formed in 1936 and later in 1955, under the Societies Registration Act 1860, it was registered as “The Maharashtra State Angling Association” (MSAA) and the lake is now under their control. Realising the gravity of the environmental pollution of the lake, the MSAA has revised its constitution,

to actively care for, clean, develop, maintain, and beautify the Environment at Powai Lake.

MSAA is now involved with a) removal of water Hyacinth infestation, b) supporting research with Fisheries Dept.for conservation of the Indian Mahaseer, c) Water quality analysis d) and augmenting security.