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Pond rejuvenation · Lucknow

Pond rejuvenation in Lucknow

Lucknow district has more ponds than any other on this list, over 4,600 by the census count, and more rain than anywhere in the NCR. But nearly a thousand of its water bodies were not in use and hundreds were encroached, many swallowed as the city spread along the Gomti. TerraSetu, an engineering and construction firm based in Gurugram, surveys ponds in Lucknow, prepares the DPR and BOQ, desilts and deepens them, builds inlets, banks and ghats, keeps sewage out and hands them back to whoever owns them.

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Lucknow's ponds in numbers

  • The 1st Census of Water Bodies counted 4,680 water bodies in Lucknow district, 4,662 of them ponds. 954 were not in use and 493 were encroached. See them on the ponds page for Lucknow.
  • The Central Ground Water Board puts Lucknow's groundwater use at 68% of what can safely be taken out each year (2025), which it rates safe. See the groundwater page for Lucknow.
  • CGWB's 2023 testing found fluoride above the BIS limit in groundwater samples from the district. See the water quality page.
  • Lucknow gets about 966 mm of rain in an average year (2006–2025), 85% of it from June to September. See the rainfall page.

What Lucknow's ponds need

CGWB rates Lucknow district as safe on average, but the average mixes the city with the farmland around it. Inside the city, where almost all water comes from borewells, ponds are among the few places rain can still soak in, and protecting the ones that are left matters most.

In the rural blocks such as Bakshi Ka Talab, Malihabad, Mohanlalganj and Gosainganj, ponds are mostly intact but silted and fed by village drains. Desilting, a separate wastewater channel and clean inlets bring them back.

How we rejuvenate a pond in Lucknow

  1. Records and survey

    We take the pond's boundary from the revenue records, then GPS-survey the bed levels, silt depth, inlets, outlets, encroachments and every drain that enters it.

  2. Fix the boundary

    The pond's full area is taken from the revenue map and khatauni, and encroachments are marked for the tehsil before any design.

  3. DPR and BOQ

    Storage before and after, catchment and inflow, drawings, an item-wise cost and a schedule that the owner or a CSR committee can approve. Work out the volumes first with the pond volume calculator.

  4. Desilt, deepen and build

    Excavators remove the silt sealing the bed; clean silt goes to farmers' fields. Then silt traps on every inlet, earthen or stone-pitched banks, ghats and steps.

  5. Plant, fence and hand over

    Plantation, fencing and signboards, then handover with as-built drawings and a yearly upkeep plan.

What pond rejuvenation costs in Lucknow

Earthwork is the biggest cost. One acre dug 1 m deeper moves about 4,050 m³ of silt; where farmers nearby take it, carting costs little, and where it must be hauled away, the price rises.

Pond size and workIndicative cost with GST
1 acre, desilt 1 m, inlet silt trap, earthen embankment₹9 lakh to ₹15 lakh
1 acre, desilt 1.5 m, stone pitching on the slopes, one ghat₹20 lakh to ₹31 lakh
3 acres, desilt 1 m, pitching, walkway, wastewater channel₹45 lakh to ₹70 lakh

The same ranges as our pond rejuvenation page, for budgeting. Silt depth, carting distance, sewage diversion and stone pitching move the price most; the survey fixes it.

Who pays for pond work in Lucknow

  • Gram panchayats, through MGNREGA for earthwork by village labour and Mission Amrit Sarovar, under which Uttar Pradesh built and revived more ponds than any other state.
  • The state's Khet Talab Yojana for farm ponds on private land.
  • The Lucknow Municipal Corporation and the Lucknow Development Authority for ponds inside the city.
  • CSR: pond revival is a Schedule VII activity for companies. See CSR water conservation projects.

Where we work

All of Lucknow district: the city, Bakshi Ka Talab, Malihabad, Mohanlalganj, Gosainganj, Kakori and the villages around them. Our survey team travels from Gurugram, so we take on projects of an acre or more here.

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Frequently asked questions

Who does pond rejuvenation in Lucknow?

TerraSetu, a Gurugram engineering and construction firm, does pond rejuvenation in Lucknow, from the survey and DPR to desilting, sewage diversion, stone work and handover, for gram panchayats, CSR teams, civic bodies and campuses.

How much does pond rejuvenation cost in Lucknow?

Most one acre ponds cost ₹9 lakh to ₹31 lakh with GST, depending on silt depth, carting distance and how much stone pitching is needed. A three acre pond with a walkway and a wastewater channel is ₹45 lakh to ₹70 lakh.

How many ponds are there in Lucknow?

The 1st Census of Water Bodies counted 4,662 ponds among 4,680 water bodies in Lucknow district, and 954 water bodies were not in use.

Does reviving a pond help groundwater in Lucknow?

Partly. Lucknow's groundwater use is 68% of the safe limit and the water table is not yet deep in much of the district, so a revived pond does most good here as clean storage, drainage in heavy rain and a source of treated water for fields, with recharge only where the water below is fresh and deep.

Who gives permission to revive a pond in Lucknow?

Village ponds are gram sabha land recorded in the revenue records. The gram panchayat passes a resolution, the tehsil confirms the boundary, and the work goes through the block. Ponds inside the city fall under the municipal corporation or LDA.

When should pond work in Lucknow start?

Site work takes 6 to 12 weeks for most one to three acre ponds and has to finish before the monsoon reaches Lucknow, usually in mid to late June. Start the survey and approvals by January.

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