A planned development of Dharwad would go a long way in preserving the glory of the historic city of north Karnataka, suggests Shyam Sundar Vattam Dharwad the cultural capital of north Karnataka is witnessing rapid urbanisation. The British made Dharwad their headquarters because of its weather. It was earlier known as 'Chota Mahabaleshwar'. The city has seen rapid transformation in the last 20 years. Once a city with thick vegetation the city is now full of concrete structures. The average rainfall is also declining every season. Situated at the end of the Western Ghats because of which there used to good weather throughout the year, people are now paying a price for the rapid development. This city of 'Seven Hills' is located on the eastern foot-hill of the Western Ghats. The history of this small town goes back to the days of the Vijayanagar Empire, was later under the Adil Shahi rulers of Bijapur, Peshwas of Maratha Empire, followed by Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan, before the British Rule was established in the early 19th century. Dharwad, a tiny town with a population of 50,000, rose to three lakh by 1980. This city received rains for almost 6 months starting from June to December and again from April. Its serene atmosphere with hills, forests, plenty of rainfall and pleasant weather attracted people not only from the nearby villages and towns, but also from other districts and states. Although, now known as a city of seven hills--Dharwad was actually a conglomerate of seven villages-- Lakamanahalli, Hosayasllapura, Sapthapur, Narayanpur, Doddanayakanakoppa, Saidapur and Malapur. Each of the villages had several irrigation tanks built across the streams flowing from the hilly regions in the western part towards the eastern plains. Dr V K Deshpande, research scientist, Western Ghats Research Project, Karnatak University, Dharwad says that the temperature of Dharwad never touched 36 degrees celsius about 5 decades ago and there used to be heavy rains if the temperature crossed 36 degrees celsius. He pointed out that the forests and hilly areas have been cleared because of which surface water drains away the top soil, silting the water courses into valleys leading to streams. As a result, storm water is trapped in the paddy fields cultivated in the stream-beds full of silt, thereby reducing the inflow of water into Neerasagara Reservoir. This fragile eco-system around Dharwad, has been degraded in the last 40 years due to urbanisation and the future looks bleak. It is unfortunate that the government agencies have turned a blind eye to the genuine environmental concerns and the problems relating to water supply, urban sewage and waste disposal are increasing. He said that closure of tanks and domestic wells coupled with indiscriminate digging of borewells have added to the water problem. With this man-made 'damage' the underground water table has depleted. The situation gets worse when rains fail and there is not enough percolation into the soil. There is no other major source of water nearby, as this town is located far away from rivers and dams. There is a need to take a second look at the expansion of Hubli- Dharwad mainly because of scarcity of drinking water and other basic facilities. The revival of tanks is ruled out as the concrete structures have already come up. There is a need for planned urban development, he added. Revival of water tanks and maintaining the greenery will help in preserving the glory of this historic city of north Karnataka. я