‘Town of ponds’: residents of Bihar’s Darbhanga embark on legal battle to save water bodies

Darbhanga in Bihar’s Mithilanchal region, about 160 km north of the state capital Patna, had over 350 ponds by 1969, according to the district gazetteer, and was known as the “town of ponds”. Today, fewer than 100 remain, and the city is struggling with depleting groundwater, leaving residents struggling to pump water from hand pumps in the summer.

According to members of the civic group Talab Bachao Abhiyan (TBA), the remaining ponds are being filled and dammed daily by encroachers to construct houses, hotels, hospitals and coaching institutes. They add that the government’s plan to “rejuvenate and beautify” historic ponds is exacerbating the water crisis.

The state Urban Development and Housing Department has entrusted BUIDCO (Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation) with a comprehensive ₹ 70.34 crore rejuvenation and beautification plan for three historically linked large ponds – Harahi, Dighi and Gangasagar – covering 1.8 km. The company even started working on laying roads.

Action in the Supreme Court

Believing that the plan would “change the ecological character of the wetland system, which plays a vital role in groundwater recharge, flood mitigation and biodiversity conservation”, TBA members petitioned the Supreme Court for restoration and reclamation rather than pond beautification.

They filed a lawsuit on March 14 with the Supreme Court. On July 28, Divisional Judge Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta recorded an oral undertaking by the Bihar government that “no further soil will be dumped” in the three ponds and that the ongoing beautification plan would be stopped thereafter. “The court has also sent a clear message that ponds and water bodies cannot be encroached upon or filled under the guise of beautification,” said a TBA member.

The Supreme Court later fixed September 7 as the next hearing date.

“We will wait for the Supreme Court’s final decision on the matter and then take a decision on the funds allocated under the scheme. The funds allocated for the pond beautification scheme will not go waste under any circumstances. In such cases, we will use them for another scheme,” State Urban Development and Housing Minister Nitish Mishra told The Hindu on August 26.

TBA, which was established in 2012, has about 150 members. Leading the fight is its convener Narayan Jee Choudhary, known as the ‘pond’ of Darbhanga; Vidyanath Jha, a founding member who is a former director and professor of botany at Lalit Narayan Mithila University; and activists Taseem Nawab and Ajit Kumar Mishra.

They allege that the beautification plan, according to BUIDCO, “is in violation of the Wetlands (Protection and Management) Rules, 2017 and court orders governing the protection of wetlands and water bodies by the National Green Tribunal (NGT)”.

“Nature’s Storage Tanks”

According to former State Pollution Control Board chairman Ashok Kumar Ghosh, ponds are “reservoirs of nature”. “During the monsoon, the ponds retain excess rainwater and allow it to percolate into the ground and recharge underground aquifers. Once the ponds are filled and paved, the natural recharge system is lost and the rainwater runs off through drains or evaporates instead of filtering into the soil,” he said.

Mr Ghosh added that the problem has become acute with depleting groundwater in fast-growing cities like Darbhanga, where demand for drinking water has led to “heavy reliance on borewells as natural recharge zones continue to disappear”.

This is not the first time that the TBA has protested against encroachments. “We organized dharnas thrice from Darbhanga to Laheriasarai, attended rallies twice, conducted signature campaigns and held nukkad (street corner) and all-party meetings to raise awareness about the issue, but nothing happened. Then we decided to petition the NGT, which also passed guidelines in our favour. Finally, we approached the Supreme Court when the government launched its verification plan. Mr. Mishra.

Mr. Nawab, in his 60s, claimed that he faced a “murderous attack” on January 10, 2024, for opposing the encroachment of the Moin pond. He claimed that he lodged a complaint at the Laheriasarai police station on January 13, 2024, but no action was taken.

“Following our legal interventions, the state government has stopped dumping around these three ponds, which are ecologically sensitive wetlands. Both the Supreme Court and NGT have issued directions to prepare a comprehensive digital inventory of ponds and wetlands across Bihar, including Darbhanga. And in this way, we can save these three ponds of Darbhanga as well. These guidelines will strengthen monitoring and protection of ponds. Choudhary,” said Mr. Choudhary.

Published – 29 Aug 2026 01:40 IST