Page:Modern Hyderabad (Deccan).djvu/95

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MODERN HYDERABAD.
83

carried on, such as constructing wells and extending and making roads, and those who cannot work have received food and shelter from the government.

The importance of storing water was understood even by the ancient Hindu rulers; but most of the great reservoirs in the State were made by the Kings of Golconda, and the Nizams and their ministers. The Husain Saugar at Hyderabad, which extends, when full, over an area of 8 sq. miles, and supplies water to Hyderabad and Secunderabad, dates from 1575 A.D., when Sultan Ibrahim Kutb Shah built a dam on which, now, the wealth of Hyderabad and the beauty of Secunderabad meet, at sunset. In fact, since the energetic Mint Master lighted the Bund by electricity in September 1913, the road that separates Hyderabad from Secunderabad has become one of the pleasantest places in H. H. the Nizam's Dominions.

The beautiful Mir Alum tank, to the south-west of the city, the Pakhal Lake in the Warangal division, which covers nearly 13 sq. miles, the Afzal Saugar, the Ibrahimpatan, the Jalpalli and other tanks, bear witness to the sagacity and public spirit of rulers who have been and who are no