Jalandhar’s Waterbodies: From Restoration to Stewardship

As we turned off the NH-44 highway onto a narrow path, skeletal trees lined the edges of quiet fields and scattered homes on one end. The air smelled of damp earth and burning stubble, mixed with animal decay, plastic and human waste. Heaps of sludge and the winter fog partially obstructed our view of the water, revealing a world of challenges and possibilities.

At first glance, the Nurpur Pond in Jalandhar appears neglected, almost forgotten. Yet, beneath the surface lies a once-thriving ecosystem, evident from the bird species that still frequent its water, small islands that cradle nests, and old ritha (Sapindus mukorossi) and kadamb (Neolamarckia cadamba) trees that line its periphery. During monsoon, this rain-fed pond receives water from the Kala Sanghian Drain, which carries agricultural runoff, industrial effluents, and untreated wastewater as it exits the pond and flows westward.

Situated at the periphery of Jalandhar city, Nurpur Pond is surrounded by the villages of Bulandpur to the west, Raowali to the north, Nurpur to the east, and Ramneek Avenue to the south. Like many other peri-urban landscapes in India, it is surrounded by small dairy farms, agricultural fields, cottage industries and self-built homes. Active green spaces are absent, with barren parks and waste strewn along canal banks. Water-security challenges threaten the region, with Jalandhar already being declared a dark zone — an area where groundwater depletes faster than it recharges — by the Central Groundwater Board of India.

Against this horizon of industrial chimneys and lush fields, children laugh and wade through the pond’s shallow edges, shooing away the herons. Lighting small fires with dried grass to warm themselves, they continue to play in their familiar playground, oblivious to the health risk and environmental crisis unfolding around them.

Despite its current state, Nurpur Pond has the potential to become a refuge for the community, recharge aquifers in a water-scarce city, and host a variety of flora and fauna. However, this requires intentional action that embraces the intertwined aspirations of both nature and the communities that live alongside it. Such efforts can ensure that restoration of blue-green infrastructure goes beyond mere beautification to support the community’s well-being and environmental resilience.

Facilitating a Holistic Vision

Nature-based solutions (NbS) offer contextually responsive strategies for holistic restoration of blue-green infrastructure. This has been widely documented globally and is increasingly being tested in India. However, Indian cities often struggle with implementation due to fragmented governance, limited finance and competing priorities. A 10-city study by WRI India revealed that the presence of multiple overlapping institutions and policies along with a lack of standardized operating procedures (SoPs) often creates friction between developmental priorities and ecological preservation.

To foster structured, collaborative, place-based development prioritizing ecological restoration, WRI India signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Municipal Corporation of Jalandhar (MCJ) and Jalandhar Smart City Limited (JSCL) in 2023. This laid the groundwork for implementing water-sensitive urban design solutions. As part of this effort, rejuvenation of the Kala Sanghian drain began with cleaning, bank stabilization and stone pitching. However, the problem of solid waste dumping soon resurfaced. Recognizing that one-time efforts were insufficient, WRI India brought together sector experts Saahas and Hasiru Dala for capacity-building efforts on integrated solid waste management for officials, sanitation staff and informal sector waste workers. Simultaneously, Nurpur Pond was taken up as a pilot for NbS implementation in Jalandhar.

The primary goal at Nurpur Pond is to establish guiding principles and processes for waterbody restoration that can be scaled to similar peri-urban villages. Grounding this effort in an evidence-based approach — often a challenge in NbS initiatives — is critical. Therefore, technical surveys were conducted to assess topography, water and soil quality, socio-spatial context, and integrate community needs in neighboring villages towards a place-sensitive design.
 

The sanctioning of a Detailed Project Report (DPR) has been a key milestone and ensured the onboarding of specialist consultants to build an implementation-forward approach that integrates feasibility, financial sustainability, monitoring and maintenance.

A sharp focus on phytoremediation and bioremediation is expected to bring about a low-energy, ecologically sound approach to restore the pond’s water quality and biodiversity. Solutions such as aeration and biological augmentation (adding air and beneficial microbes to improve water quality), floating islands constructed through reclaimed materials, chemical-free wastewater treatment, natural bank stabilization and riparian zone enhancement using native vegetation have been planned to restore the pond’s ecosystem. 

Listening to the needs of local communities has been an integral part of this process and brought in a range of active programs to the site. The wastewater treatment plant now offers shaded seating areas for visitors. The remaining site offers a children’s play area, jogging track, non-motorized boating, toilets and species interaction decks — turning the pond into a shared public space that supports both ecological function and everyday use.

Fostering Behavioral Change

“Resilience is rooted in habits we can cultivate and change.”
― Andrew Zolli, Resilience: Why Things Bounce Back

Sites like Kala Sanghian and Nurpur Pond present opportunities to strengthen community participation and build long-term custodianship of natural assets. No restoration effort can truly succeed without a deep understanding of the people’s needs and their relationship with the natural environment. Nature-based solutions must therefore be integrated into everyday governance and community practices through a participatory approach, ensuring that spaces like Nurpur Pond not just revive, but holistically thrive. 

Ushering communities into decision-making and ownership roles can enable them to cultivate change and reclaim neglected commons as spaces of care and stewardship. However, the journey from design to implementation often involves navigating complex institutional processes, which can shift focus away from long-term resilience.

There is a critical need to align regulatory and institutional frameworks, consolidate efforts and effectively communicate them to broader audiences. Building an enabling ecosystem grounded in evidence-based planning and sustained through meaningful community engagement is imperative. As the restoration of Nurpur Pond takes shape, its processes reveal the building blocks of ecological resilience across Indian city-regions.