The Mir Alam Tank in Hyderabad, is a fine piece of engineering with a mile-long bund containing 21 arches which resemble a beautiful necklace when seen from the sky. The lake holds 20.7 sq. km (8 square miles) of water. The tank was built by French engineers in early 1800s.
Mir Alam Tank is located adjacent to Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad. It was named after Mir Alam Bahadur, the then Prime Minister of Hyderabad kingdom. The foundation stone to this lake was laid in 1804 and it was completed in two years. It has provided drinking water to Hyderabad people for 125 years before the Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar were built.
Mir Alam Tank was the part of a large network of 21 lakes that formed the Mir Alam Watershed. Of this about 8 lakes are missing now.
In its heydays, Mir Alam Tank’s water was so sweet that people used to carry it in containers. Now, the lake is reduced to a cess pool. Even its extent has shrunk by more than half.