In 1892, Jagannath Sadashiva Hate, an engineer employed by Sayajirao III conceived a water supply scheme for Baroda at Ajwa that would supply drinking water to the people of Baroda using gravity. An earthen dam, 5.6 km long and 15 feet wide was built. It went up to 56 feet high. The dam was built on Surya rivulet and Vaghali nullah, 20 km from the city. Its catchment area was 8.8 sq km. It is connected to River Vishwamitri which flows through the city of Baroda, so that excess water in event of floods is dispatched to this river. The reservoir has 64 gates. People named it after Sayajirao III and called it ‘Nalganga’ (the Ganges water from a tap). To this day a large portion of Vadodara City gets its drinking water from this source. The Ajwa Gardens and fountains were designed to look like the Brindavan gardens in Mysore.