Underground water spring recovered in Jama Masjid

Aurangabad, July 19:

In a surprising development, an underground water spring has been recovered during the excavation of surface land for the construction of a giant-size water storage tank, on the campus of heritage structure Jama Masjid, recently. It so happened that after digging the earth for about 3-feet deep, the water source was spotted. It increased the curiosity and when the digging continued till 30-feet deep, a great water spring was detected. Meanwhile, the management of the mosque has fixed two electric motors (of 5 hp capacity each) to lift the water from the spring and has decided to construct a well to get rid of water scarcity permanently.

The mosque was facing a shortage of water for the past many years. In hope of getting water through bore-wells, the management has dugged out at 40 various spots, in the last 25 years. Ironically, the management was worried as their hope was fading when they could not get water at any of these points.

Jama Masjid is the city's biggest mosque and has heritage status. The worshipping place was constructed by the founder of the city - Malik Amber and later on, the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb extended it. Thousands of devotees throng to offer special prayers every Friday. It is a centre place (Markaz) and the congregation (ijtema) is held every Thursday. Besides, hundreds of students studying in Madarsa reside on the campus and complete their various Arabic courses. The mosque is also the most sought place to conduct marriage ceremonies (Nikah). The management had renovated the surroundings of the mosque (from inside and outside). However, the devotees coming here to offer the prayers require water for ablution (Wuzu). To arrange water, the management laid pipelines to draw water from wells in Buddi Lane. Despite this, the shortage of water was felt continuously.

Water spring spotted

It so happened that the excavation was underway, on the rear side of the mosque campus, on the side of VIP road, for the past one week. A minor water spring was detected. This prompted to excavate further and on the depth of 30-feet, a big size water spring was recovered. The mosque management installed two electric motors of 5 HP capacity each to lift the water, which is underway 24x7. Now, it has been decided to construct a well as it will help to overcome the shortage of water which was experienced for the past many years, said Maulana Naseem Miftai adding that water tank to store 3 lakh litres of water will be built here.

Miracle of Allah

Maulana Moiz Farooqui of Jama Masjid said, " We were tired of making repeated attempts to find out adequate water source since the past many decades. By the grace of the Almighty Allah, a big water spring has now been detected in the underground. An adequate quantity of water is available in the new source. It will definitely help overcome the shortage of water in the future."