🏛️
Stamp Passport→Visiting Mir Alam Tank?
Check in on the map, claim discovery points & stamp your Deccan Heritage Passport.
Mir Alam Tank
Also known as: Mallepally Lake, Mir Alam Lake
A masonry dam and reservoir built in 1804 under the statesman Mir Alam, engineered by Colonel John Malcolm. One of the largest masonry dams in South Asia at the time.
History & Story
When the Hyderabadi statesman Mir Alam commissioned a new water supply for the growing city, he engaged British engineering expertise, a collaboration that produced one of the most impressive masonry dams in South Asia. Colonel John Malcolm's 21 arched sluices, built in lime mortar, regulated water for the city and doubled as an aesthetic landscape feature. The tank was in use for drinking water supply for over a century before the urban sprawl reached it. It now serves as a bird sanctuary and green lung within the city.
Key Events
1804
Dam and tank completed, one of the largest masonry dams in South Asia
1908
Tank plays a role in flood control during the Great Musi Flood
1986
Declared a protected bird sanctuary
Key People
M
Mir Alam
Hyderabadi statesman who commissioned it; lake named for him
C
Colonel John Malcolm
British engineer who designed the masonry dam
Location & Getting There
Area / Locality: Attapur
Coordinates: 17.34530° N, 78.43920° E
Access: public