Sagar (Madhya Pradesh): The district administration has begun to restore the ancient Bawadis or Baolis (step-wells), official sources said on Monday.
Traditional method has been adopted to renovate those Babadis and, instead of cement and red sand, molasses, black gram (Urad), fenugreek seeds (Methi) and wood apple (Bel) are being used to strengthen the construction.
These items are being mixed with lime and powdered broken bricks (Surkhi) so that the Bawadis may last for a longer period.
The restoration of Bawadis near Nageshwar temple and the one at Lakshmikpura is going on. The work of the Bawadi in Neelkantheshwar temple is yet to start.
According to sources, the use of cement is banned for restoration of an ancient monument, so the 500 years old building technology is being used for it.
The Bawadi, outside Nageshwar temple, near CR Model School, is the pride of Sagar city because of its beauty and usefulness. The residents used the water of this Bawadi 20 years ago.
In 2009-10, the water body was beautified, but because of negligence it was in ruins. Its walls fell.
The residents are happy about the work being done by the administration. A resident Pravesh Soni said that the 150-year-old Bawadi is big as well as pride of the city, and its restoration will add charm to the city.
A park is also built the Bawadi. Engineer Sheetal Shivhare said that the Bawadi embodies the culture, civilisation and architecture of the city.
To restore its look, molasses, apple wood, black gram, edible gum and fenugreek seeds are being used, he said.
All these items are crushed, mixed and then put in water. Once those items dissolve, they are filtered and mixed with lime and broken bricks powder.
Special care is taken so that the fragments of pulses, wood apple and fenugreek seeds do not get into the mixture.
As the liquid mixture gets spoiled after 15 days, it is prepared again. The mixture of the three items gives strength to a building.
Water is sprinkled on the building constructed with this method for a week to make it stronger.
Chief executive officer of the Smart City Limited Rahul Singh Rajput said a concrete structure lasts for100 years, but the Bawadis last for 500 years because of the ancient method used to restore them.
(With inputs from Satish Pathak)
