Amazing Tala Tank
-----------
Not only India, Asia's second largest overhead reservoir is Kolkata's 'Tala Tank'. The same type of iron used to make the 'Tala Tank' was used to make the historic 'Titanic' ship. According to the information, about 8500 tons of iron was required for the construction of Tala tank. Which was brought by ship from far away Manchester in England. The tank located 110 feet above the ground is literally a wonder! Salt Lake Stadium measures 280 feet by 280 feet. The length-width size of the Tala tank there is 321 feet by 321 feet! That is, the reservoir is bigger than the football field! Standing on 215 iron pillars, the tank is 20 feet high.
In 1717, the East India Company acquired 38 villages from the Mughal emperor Farrukhshiar. Out of which 3 were in present day Kolkata. As Calcutta gradually transformed into a city and became more and more developed, the first and primary task naturally became to provide safe drinking water to the citizens. Because the importance of water is first and foremost in developing any healthy settlement and public life. At that time water supply was started by cutting ponds at Hedua, Bhavanipur and Wellington. Then the city started to grow, public life, population started to grow, so to supply healthy water according to the needs of the citizens, the then water engineer Mr. Deverall proposed to build a tank (reservoir). The proposal was prepared by his assistant Mr. Pearce. The plan was also approved by the Bengali government. The proposal of 1901 was accepted by the Corporation in 1902. Exactly one year later, the newly appointed municipal engineer W. B. McCabe made a slight modification to this proposal. The proposed amount increased to 69 lakh 17 thousand 874 taka. However, the municipality agreed that better water service was possible.
Now the problem is where such a big tank will be built? Where 'Tala Tank' stands today, there was once a large pond, the tank was created by filling up these ponds. The site of this tank i.e. 482 acres of land was donated by a person named Babu Khelad Ghosh. This tank, equal to a 10-story house, was built on his land. The foundation stone of the tank was laid by the then Governor Sir Edward Baker in 1909 and it was opened in 1911 to supply water to the citizens.
Amazingly, this gigantic 321 ft x 321 ft square tank with no screws on an entirely wooden floor is still standing proudly, providing water to the people. Initially the roof of 'Tala Tank' was of Chunsurki. Later the roof is made of 14 inch thick cast concrete. The foundation work of 'Tala Tank' was done by TC Mukherjee & Company and the concrete foundation was done by Rajendranath Mukherjee's Martin & Company, the steel work was done by Claytonson & Company of England. Later when the roof was made of concrete, Arakon & Company and Babu Kalishankar Mittir worked. This huge tank with 4 compartments of 1 lakh 3 thousand 41 square feet was built very discreetly and intelligently so that the water supply is not disturbed in any way while cleaning the tank. This gigantic tank has a capacity of 90 lakh gallons of water. Its height is 18 feet, but the water is up to 16 feet. From Dumdum in the north to Bhavanipur in the south, this water reaches the homes of every Kolkata resident through underground pipes. Purified water from Ganga at Palta reaches Tala through 6 pipes covering a distance of about 22 km. It accumulates in the reservoir below. From there, the water rises in a 60-inch pipe to the tank about 110 feet above the ground. This reservoir, the largest in the world, once supplied water to the whole of Kolkata. Later, the Gardenreach water project reduced the pressure on Tala a bit.
It was a description of the size of the tank, but this tank was so strong that it was not destroyed even when Japan dropped bombs during World War II. There were only 9 holes. There were many big earthquakes but there was no damage to the 'Tala Tank'. 'Tala Tank' was the biggest target point for China and Pakistan in the war of 1962, 1971 with the thought that Kolkata can be captured if this huge tank is damaged. Because without drinking water, human life is stagnant. But pushing away all these obstacles and adversities, even today this 'Tala Tank' remains the pride of our Bengalis and the world.
The century-old Tala tank could have been damaged by Amphan, which came at a speed of around 130 km per hour recently. This fear worked in the minds of the city officials. Because the repair work is not completed. In the last 100 years no one has experienced such a big storm. The officer in charge of the Tala Tank took a quick decision only after informing the Mayor that the weather conditions were deteriorating since noon. And they think that the fort has been conquered by that decision.
In this hydraulic system, the water is continuously pumped from the tala tank in a continuous manner. Water never stagnates in the tank. But seeing the situation after noon, the officials decided that no water should be allowed to go down from 5 pm to night. The water flow is stopped by quickly closing the switch. Tala tank has a water holding capacity of 90 lakh gallons. Eight million gallons of water were quickly filled into the four chambers of the tank. The weight of the entire tank including water stands at 85 thousand metric tons. Experts say that Amphan did not have the ability to move a single hair. But a test was done through it. Protected Tala Tank for next 100 years. Amfan was sealed!
Even today, almost every house in Kolkata is given life through water.
