The tank, which is owned by Kolkata Municipal Corporation, is fed by Palta Water Works near Barrackpore.

It has survived multiple calamities including the 1934 Nepal–India earthquake, World War II Imperial Japanese aerial bombings from 1942 to 1944 and Cyclone Amphan in 2020.

It had a capacity of 790 thousand imperial gallons (3,600 cubic metres) which gradually became insufficient for the growing population.

[8] Edward Norman Baker, Lieutenant Governor of Bengal, commissioned the tank on 18 November 1909.

A barrier wall was built with two rows of 25–30 ft (8–9 m) long piles and concrete around the plinth so it did not spread.

[8] Raw materials, wood and special anti-corrosive steel plates were brought from Burma (now Myanmar) and Middlesbrough, England,[15] respectively, and fabrication works were carried out on-site.

[16] M/s Clayton, Son and Co. of Leeds, England carried out the work of fabricating and erecting the steel columns and tank.

The flat top cover was made up of 66 millimetres (2.6 in) thick fine concrete, which was provided by Arracon Co. and Babu Kali Sunkar Mitter.

[18] Connections from Palta waterworks to the Tala tank were made with 42 in (110 cm) diameter cast iron pipes that were laid along Barrackpore Trunk Road.

The typical structure of the tank responded poorly to horizontal loading (wind, cyclones and earthquakes).

[21] KMC and Jadavpur University (JU) experts and engineers assessed the risk and devised a precautionary plan to save the tank from toppling.

[11][22][23] During the Second World War, the reservoir, along with the Howrah Bridge and Kolkata Port,[24] was under constant threat of Japanese aerial bombings on Calcutta.

[16] At the time of the 1964 East Pakistan riots rumours spread that the tank had been poisoned by the Muslims.

[34][35][36] After the renovations are complete, this tank won't require any major repairs for another 100 years.

Tala Tank is claimed to be the largest overhead reservoir in the world[20] was constructed on the 250-year-old[40] Barrackpore Trunk Road.

[41] Because the soil's bearing capacity is limited due to silt below Kolkata, the tank was built upon a 2.5 ft (0.76 m) monolithic concrete bed weighing 26 thousand tonnes.

[8] Having a single 60 in (150 cm) diameter mild steel riveted water source and a supply pipe that fills the tank during off-peak hours[c] and stores water in four equally sized, isolated chambers and supplies it to the city and other major underground reservoirs according to demand.

[8] The whole tank with the support weighs 44 thousand tonnes while the steel components weigh 8,500 t.[6][7] Tala Tank can store enough water to satisfy the needs of Kolkata and the adjacent residential-cum-business district Salt Lake City for two days.