The scout’s mother had told him, “Earlier there were no forest people,” officers, but “The PW,” Public Works Department, “people ran horse carriages. Ingraj sahebs,” British officers, “rode on them and managed the lime kiln. They used to take our people,” adivasis, “forcibly making them do any given work. Otherwise our people were whipped with a whiplash!” “During this time,” a medicinal healer recounted his grandma’s tale, “My great grandfather worked to construct Tulsi lake. Several pipelines were being laid from inside the jungle. Hills are up there, no? Pipelines were constructed at their base ... 2 number line, 4 number line ... They had such names. There are four pipelines from Tusli. Our people worked there for a long period. This is how water was supplied to Bombay city!”
Tulsi Lake—Conceived: early-1870s; Construction: 1879-1897. Vihar Lake—Conceived: late-1840s; Construction: 1856-1860. Powai Lake—Conceived: mid-1880s; Construction: 1890-1891.
Tansa Lake—Conceived: mid-1880s; Construction: 1892-1925. Sanctioned by the Mumbai Metropolitan Heritage Conservation Society, a 2007 study report lists many of these lakes as heritage assets. Meanwhile, ‘The trunk of the Ficus tree is stolen, you have connected taps stealing our water to Mumbai ...,’ goes an evocative adivasi song from Wada taluka where the Tansa lake is located.