The residents of Powai and the nearby localities enjoy spending time at the Powai lake, which is located in the heart of the neighbourhood. The artificia lake is in the Powai valley which was earlier an area of hutments, however, the locality was then named after the lake. Geographically, the lake is located on the downstream of Vihar Lake which is on the Mithi River flowing through the city.
One of the important highlights and landmark locations in Powai is the esteemed Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. The reputed science and technology institution is on the eastern side of the lake. Besides this, the National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), is also present closer the Powai lake.
Powai hosts several popular housing societies and residential areas along with four and five star hotels in close vicinity to the lake's periphery. This has also led to an increase in the number of visitors to the lake.
History states that the lake spread of 520 acres, was built in 1799 AD, by the British. It is approximately 9.8 ft deep at the periphery, and goes further down to 39 ft. The land, as per records, was leased to Dr, Scott on a yearly basis, and then in 1816, transferred on the name of former vice-president of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of Western India, Framaji Kavasji, upon whom the lake was build in 1891.
Over the years, several projects and quality checks have been conducted to check the purity of the lake water, however, it was later decided that the water, which was once sent to several areas in Mumbai, for consumption, was no longer good to drink. Currently, the lake is just a tourist attraction.
Observing this, the team from IIT-Bombay then took over the prokect to revive the lake and its issues like silting, weed growth, water hyacinth growth and many others. Its batch from 1980 then launched a project titled "Revitalization of Powai Lake" focusing on restoring it to its pristine and sustainable form. Officials are considering eco-friendly designs and materialsfor this project, the funds of which are also donated by IIT.
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