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Reviving Badshahpur Pond

Blue Patch Initiative

Bringing a buried pond back to life in Sector 68, Gurugram.

Conceived, planned, and led by Devvrat Yadav, a student at Shikshantar School, Gurugram, in collaboration with RSP Developers' CSR initiative. A mission to restore a dying urban water body and give it back to the community.

See the progress Read the research
An excavator begins digging at the Badshahpur Pond site, 22 April 2026
Current status Phase 2 of 4
Main excavation done. Bank shaping and planting next.
155T, Sector 68, Gurugram · Lat 28.392056, Long 77.035325
Pond UID 02-HR-GG-MG-UR-0025-BDHA-005
Location Sector 68, Gurugram, Haryana
Coordinates 28.392056°N, 77.035325°E
Started January 2026
The bigger picture

Gurugram is losing its water bodies

When the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority surveyed the district for the National Green Tribunal, it inventoried 644 water bodies covering about 1,142 acres. Of these, 153 had "practically vanished beyond recovery or revival", and another 53 were facing "existential pressures" from landfill, the dumping of garbage and construction waste, levelling and encroachment (GMDA, 2019).

More on the causes and the region's groundwater

Researchers trace this loss to the way the city was built. Gururani (2021) describes how water bodies such as Ghata jheel were turned into land for building as Gurugram urbanised, and Dev (2017) shows how paved ground stops rain from soaking in, leaving the city prone to flooding while its groundwater falls.

Groundwater across the region is falling as well. Satellite measurements show that between August 2002 and October 2008 the groundwater beneath Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana, including Delhi, dropped by an average of about 4 cm of water a year, a loss of roughly 109 cubic kilometres (Rodell et al., 2009).

Badshahpur Pond had gone the same way: filled with waste, levelled and forgotten. The Blue Patch Initiative exists to bring it back.

About the pond and its surroundings
644
water bodies inventoried across Gurugram district
153
have vanished beyond recovery or revival
53
under pressure from dumping, levelling and encroachment
1 in 5
at risk from untreated sewage and other waste water (about 20%)

Figures from the GMDA report to the National Green Tribunal (GMDA, 2019). Nationally, Mission Amrit Sarovar set out in April 2022 to develop and rejuvenate 75 water bodies in every district (Ministry of Jal Shakti, 2022).

Our Mission

The Goal

Badshahpur Pond has been buried under years of solid waste, construction debris, and encroachment. Our mission is to fully restore it, removing all garbage, desilting the bed, and reviving it as a functioning freshwater body that recharges groundwater and supports local biodiversity.

This project was conceived and strategically led by Devvrat Yadav, a student at Shikshantar School, who identified the pond, secured municipal permissions, coordinated with RSP Developers' CSR initiative, and continues to drive every phase of execution on the ground.

Swipe sideways for all four.

Waste Removal
Full excavation of accumulated garbage, debris, and construction waste from the pond bed.
Water Restoration
Desilting and reshaping the pond to restore its natural capacity to hold and recharge water.
Ecosystem Revival
Planting native aquatic vegetation and creating habitat for birds, fish, and pollinators.
Community Access
Restoring the pond as a green public space accessible to all residents of the neighbourhood.
Urban Ecology

Why Urban Ponds Matter

In rapidly urbanising cities like Gurugram, water bodies are not luxuries, they are critical infrastructure. A single healthy pond provides several ecological and social benefits at once.

Swipe sideways for all six.

Groundwater Recharge
Urban ponds work like percolation tanks. During the monsoon they capture rainwater and let it seep slowly into the aquifer, replenishing the groundwater Gurugram depends on. Paved ground cannot do this: it sends the rain straight into the drains.
SourcesRaj et al., 2024; Dev, 2017; Shuster et al., 2005
Urban Heat Mitigation
Open water cools the air around it through evaporation. In a city where summer temperatures can exceed 45°C, a pond helps to cool its immediate surroundings.
SourceJandaghian & Colombo, 2024
Biodiversity Corridors
Ponds are among the most biodiverse freshwater habitats, supporting aquatic insects, amphibians and birds. As Gurugram's green spaces shrink, each restored water body becomes an island of habitat in a sea of concrete.
SourceHill et al., 2021
Flood Buffer
Gurugram floods in heavy rain. In July 2016 a quarter of the month's rain fell in three hours. Water bodies hold stormwater that would otherwise overwhelm drains and roads, and restoring them is a cost-effective part of flood mitigation.
SourcesDev, 2017; Balasubramanian, 2023
Natural Water Filtration
Aquatic plants and the microorganisms around their roots take up pollutants, sediment and nutrients from runoff, acting as a living water treatment system with low running costs.
SourcesFletcher et al., 2024; Addo-Bankas et al., 2022
Community & Wellbeing
Shared green and blue spaces give a dense neighbourhood somewhere to meet, and research links them to stronger social cohesion. A pond is a commons, a shared resource that belongs to everyone around it.
SourceWan et al., 2021
See how the restored pond works
On the Ground

Project Progress

Overall Completion
50%

The main excavation of the pond bed is done. The banks still have to be shaped to the planned layout before planting begins.

  1. Complete
    Survey and permission
    January 2026
  2. Under way
    Ground preparation and excavation
    From May 2026
  3. Upcoming
    Ecosystem planting
    Once the banks are shaped
  4. Upcoming
    Water collection and community handover
    To follow
Photographs and the full timeline All site photographs

No witchcraft, no enemy action had silenced the rebirth of new life in this stricken world. The people had done it themselves.

Rachel Carson, "A Fable for Tomorrow", Silent Spring (1962)

Environmental action does not wait for institutions. It begins with one person deciding to act.

Devvrat Yadav, Blue Patch Initiative
Behind the project

The research, the person and the people on site

The research
The essay that started the project

The Blue Patch Initiative grew out of a research paper on why Gurugram's lakes are declining and how they can be restored, with every source listed.

Read the research
About Devvrat
Devvrat Yadav

A student at Shikshantar School, Gurugram, who identified the pond, secured municipal permissions and leads the work on the ground.

About Devvrat
Expert voice and updates
In conversation with Chetan Agarwal

An interview with environmentalist Mr Chetan Agarwal, and site interviews and project updates on Instagram and YouTube.

Watch and follow
Get In Touch

Help bring the pond back.

Whether you're a resident, volunteer, or organisation interested in supporting this initiative, we'd love to hear from you.

Open contact form
Project Lead
Devvrat Yadav
devvratyadav367@gmail.com
RSP Developers CSR Initiative
Admin
admin@rspdevelopers.com
Pawan
pawan@rspdevelopers.com
References on this page13 sources
  1. Addo-Bankas, O., Zhao, Y., Gomes, A., & Stefanakis, A. (2022). Challenges of urban artificial landscape water bodies: Treatment techniques and restoration strategies towards ecosystem services enhancement. Processes, 10(12), 2486. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr10122486
  2. Balasubramanian, I. (2023). Strategies to mitigate urban flooding and build climate resilience: Lessons for Indian cities. International Society of City and Regional Planners. https://isocarp.org/app/uploads/2023/08/Indumathi-Balasubramanian.pdf
  3. Dev, A. (2017). Urban cannibalism: A self-destructive decay – the duality of ecological dismay; Gurgaon. International Journal on Emerging Technologies, 8(1), 297–303.
  4. Fletcher, J., Willby, N. J., Oliver, D. M., & Quilliam, R. S. (2024). Multi-pollutant removal dynamics by aquatic plants in monoculture or mixed communities. Environmental Research, 263, 120041. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2024.120041
  5. Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority. (2019, May 2). Water bodies in district Gurugram [Compliance report in O.A. No. 325 of 2015, Lt. Col. Sarvadaman Singh Oberoi v. Union of India & Ors.]. National Green Tribunal. https://www.greentribunal.gov.in/sites/default/files/all_documents/GMDA-Compliance%20Report%20In%20O.A.%20No.%20325%20of%202015.pdf
  6. Gururani, S. (2021). Making land out of water: Ecologies of urbanism, property, and loss. In A. Rademacher & K. Sivaramakrishnan (Eds.), Death and life of nature in Asian cities (pp. 138–158). Hong Kong University Press.
  7. Hill, M. J., Greaves, H. M., Sayer, C., Hassall, C., Milin, M., Milner, V. S., Marazzi, L., Hall, R., Harper, L. R., Thornhill, I., Walton, R., Biggs, J., Ewald, N., Law, A., Willby, N., White, J. C., Briers, R. A., Mathers, K. L., Jeffries, M. J., & Wood, P. J. (2021). Pond ecology and conservation: Research priorities and knowledge gaps. Ecosphere, 12(12), e03853. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3853
  8. Jandaghian, Z., & Colombo, A. (2024). The role of water bodies in climate regulation: Insights from recent studies on urban heat island mitigation. Buildings, 14(9), 2945. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14092945
  9. Ministry of Jal Shakti. (2022, July 21). Restoration of water bodies [Press release]. Press Information Bureau, Government of India. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1843391
  10. Raj, A., Yadav, B., Patidar, N., Krishan, G., Deka, B. J., Jeong, S., Pandey, A., Matsuno, Y., & Singh, R. D. (2024). Artificial recharge initiatives in India: Challenges and future scope. APN Science Bulletin, 14(1), 93–109. https://doi.org/10.30852/sb.2024.2568
  11. Rodell, M., Velicogna, I., & Famiglietti, J. S. (2009). Satellite-based estimates of groundwater depletion in India. Nature, 460(7258), 999–1002. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08238
  12. Shuster, W. D., Bonta, J., Thurston, H., Warnemuende, E., & Smith, D. R. (2005). Impacts of impervious surface on watershed hydrology: A review. Urban Water Journal, 2(4), 263–275. https://doi.org/10.1080/15730620500386529
  13. Wan, C., Shen, G. Q., & Choi, S. (2021). Underlying relationships between public urban green spaces and social cohesion: A systematic literature review. City, Culture and Society, 24, 100383. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccs.2021.100383

Every source used on this website is listed on the References page.