HILLBILLY
Lokesh Ohri
What would you do if you were an engineer experiencing a famine that claimed eight hundred thousand lives? Find a solution, of course, and start building a 500 kilometre long canal, a man-made structure so grand that it is visible from outer space too!
In the past few days, I have been revisiting the incredible story of the Ganga Canal, a mega-structure of gargantuan proportions, built after the Agra Famine of 1837. Over the next two decades after the famine, the passion for building the Ganga Canal would consume Colonel Proby Cautley, an engineer and a paleontologist, employed by the East India Company.
While the bureaucracy of the British company considered the canal an unnecessary expense, Cautley convinced his colleagues that they were, in fact spending more on famine relief, and the construction of the canal would substantially increase farm revenues. After walking and riding for six months along the canal, his elaborate plans persuaded the British that the canal was indeed feasible and worth the investment.
Digging for the canal began in 1842 but Cautley soon realised the obstacles – the right bricks were not available, nor was the mortar. For a project of such magnitude and scale, there weren’t even enough engineers and hydrologists! Cautley tackled each problem with patience and perseverance. He went to the extent of establishing Asia’s first engineering college, the Thomasson College of Engineering, which is now the IIT, Roorkee.
But perhaps his biggest challenge was to come from the pandas, or priests at Haridwar, who strongly objected to Cautley’s efforts to block the free flow of the sacred Ganga. He pacified them by leaving a gap in the dam, to allow the waters to flow unchecked at India’s most sacred spot, the Har-ki-Paidi. Can you imagine a Ganesh Puja being organised by the East India Company for the inauguration of the canal? The puja was attended by several maharajas and officers.
Though Cautley’s efforts helped solve the problems of drought and flooding in the Eastern Uttar Pradesh, also bringing prosperity, it also did contribute towards making Ganga, one of the most tampered-with rivers. However, over the decades, the canal itself seems to have evolved an ecology all its own, considering the flocks of migratory birds I witnessed in my journey up and down the canal.
The Ganga Canal project, of course, was not easy to accomplish. Among the major issues was the problem of the mountainous streams that threatened the canal. Near Roorkee, the land fell away sharply and Cautley had to build an aqueduct to carry the canal for half a kilometre. As a result, at Roorkee the canal is 25 metres higher than the original river. This marvel of engineering, in Roorkee, is the Solani aqueduct that turns the flow of the waters at just that specific angle to make it flow against gravity. Cautley even ran India’s first steam engine to transport materials in 1851. The Jenny Lind, as the engine was affectionately called, still stands proudly outside the Roorkee Railway Station. The Mumbai-Thane passenger link was to come three years later.
When the canal formally opened in 1854 its main channel was 560 kilometres long, its branches 492 kilometres long and the various tributaries over 4,800 kilometres long, irrigating a whopping 5,000 villages. For a project that extends from Haridwar right up to Kanpur, it is fascinating to see how each bridge, the water locks, mills etc. have been designed to perfection, keeping the local requirements in mind.
Cautley’s passion for the canal resulted in several personal problems too. His domestic life was always strained, his wife preferring to live in Mussoorie, while he spent most of his time in dak bungalows and tents along the Ganga. After his retirement, there were accusations of corruption, which he fended off once again with his characteristic patience. Soon, he was knighted, not for his efforts at engineering but for his studies on fossils and survey work in England.
The Ganga Canal is a unique gem of engineering heritage and extends right up to the national capital. As a route for migratory birds flocking to the Ganga and Yamuna wetlands, it also offers several opportunities for enjoying the irrigation heritage of India.
It is sad to see that such a wonderful legacy is lying totally neglected and uncared for. What could yield large amounts of tourism revenue is now just a mangle of putrefying, stagnant water laden with water hyacinth. The five magnificent lions that Cautley installed as symbols of the Company’s growing power are either rendered invisible due to squatters or painted brightly to the extent of making them look silly.
The Ganga Canal, in its entirety, is a grand tribute to human invention and endeavor and governments of India, Uttarakhand as well as Uttar Pradesh must come together to preserve this unique legacy in the fields of irrigation, flood control as well as heritage.
(The writer is an anthropologist, author, traveler & activist who also runs a public walking group called Been There, Doon That?)
Monday, 07 December 2020 | Lokesh Ohri
