Ponds in the countryside have begun to disappear due to the impacts of urbanisation, putting many a village in the country at risk of drought. For centuries, these shallow lakes usually encircled with wide-canopy Banyan and Peepal trees played a key in the rural landscape, providing water for cattle, bathing, and washing, while also recharging the underground reservoirs.

In Hindu-dominated pre-partition areas such as Daultala town in Gujar Khan, there were special ponds with stairs and platforms for washing clothes, which were well-managed by the local community. But now these are nowhere to be found, at least in their previous form, due to the rapid expansion of residential areas in villages. In most villages, such infrastructure has given way to houses and other sorts of construction.

According to experts, unplanned construction and land grabbing are among the major reasons that these ponds have started to disappear, making these rural areas water-stressed. Speaking to Dawn, former Punjab forest secretary Chaudhry Mohammad Ashraf said in Daultala, there were several ponds surrounded by trees. These banyan and peepal trees were the abode of parrots and other birds, playing an effective role in preserving the ecosystem of the locality. He said there was a dire need to redevelop these ponds to preserve rainwater and to stabilise the water table to combat drought-like situations.

Rawalpindi Agriculture Director Syed Iftikhar Bokhari agreed. According to the government official, the urbanisation and asphalt roads in the countrywide obstruct the soil’s ability to absorb rainwater and round-the-clock extraction through boreholes further diminishes the underground aquifer. He said such water ponds played a key role in recharging the water table.

He further said harvesting rainwater must be a top priority for the government. “Moreover, the construction of mini dams on the natural flow to collect water in a relatively larger body can supply water for agriculture and drinking. Simultaneously, it will serve the purpose of groundwater recharging,” he told Dawn.

Meanwhile, another government official also stressed the importance of mini dams to recharge the groundwater. He claimed that the areas having water ponds around have ample groundwater availability while those towns where water ponds have disappeared struggle with the subsoil water.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2024