Areas east of Pune receive much less rainfall than the areas in the west of city, adjacent to the Sahyadri mountains. To minimize the risk of drought in the low rainfall areas, a masonry dam was built on the Mutha river at Khadakwasla in 1878. At that time, the dam was considered one of the largest in the world. Two canals were dug on each bank of the river, for irrigating lands to the east of the city. The canals also supplied drinking water to the city and Pune cantonment. In 1890, Poona Municipality spent Rs. 200,000 to install water filtration works.