If you are a sensitive soul standing at the ramparts of Fatehpur Sikri, you will notice something strange in the howling winds rising from the arid land. The silently advancing desert echoes subdued moans of history. Emperor of India Jalaluddin Mohammed Akbar built and declared it the new capital city of the Mughal empire with a lot of fanfare. Sufi saint Sheikh Salim Chisti once resided there. Akbar had a son due to his blessings. A little distance from here are the plains of Kanvah, where Akbar’s grandfather Zahiruddin Mohammad Babur defeated Rana Sanga to establish the Mughal empire.

What better site could he have chosen to establish a new capital of the nascent empire? But, then, what went wrong? The emperor defied nature. The place was devoid of a perennial river like the Yamuna, which fed Agra and Delhi. The reservoirs built to meet the water demands of the new capital were hopelessly dependent on rainwater. Groundwater was saline. As a result, within 14 years, Akbar had to shift the capital back to Agra. If we leave aside Daulatabad, Fatehpur Sikri was the shortest-serving capital city of any empire in India.

You may consider it a sad end to imperial ambitions, but that was 400 years ago — in the 16th century. Today’s situation is dire. Many rivers in the country have dried up, and drinking-water scarcity in cities along their banks is pushing the latter into “dark zones”. New Delhi........

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