Quiet ponds and lakes are dotted around the edges of many growing Indian cities where the bustle of urban life starts to blend with the countryside. These static water bodies, like natural reservoirs, are far more than just picturesque spots. They are like vital organs for the local environment, becoming homes and providing essential freshwater for local biodiversity, including humans. They also function like giant sponges soaking up rainwater and recharging groundwater. They even help to cool the air and provide a picturesque place for humans to enjoy.
However, like sentinels standing guard at the frontier of urban expansion, these precious resources are increasingly under siege. A recent research review published in the Indian Journal of Natural Sciences by researchers from Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University, Lucknow, delves into the specific dangers pinpointing the key factors making these water bodies so vulnerable, particularly in the rapidly changing peri-urban areas of India.
The researchers conducted a comprehensive investigation of existing knowledge. They reviewed numerous scientific papers, reports, and books focusing on urbanisation impacts, water quality assessments, and vulnerability studies from India and globally. By analysing this information, they identified a pattern, isolating eight critical vulnerability facets – specific types of pressures that consistently threaten these static water bodies.
They found that the rapid, often unplanned, expansion of cities brings a cascade of problems. Land use changes dramatically, shifting from fields and open spaces to concrete buildings and roads. Like wrapping the earth in plastic wrap, rainwater can no longer seep into the ground easily, leading to faster runoff and less water refilling the ponds and lakes, while also increasing the risk of pollutants being washed directly into them. Growing populations in these areas increase the demand for freshwater, sometimes leading to over-extraction, and inevitably generate more waste – sewage, industrial effluents, and solid trash – which too often finds its way into the nearest water body, turning it from a source of life into a foam-filled bathtub of pollutants.
The study highlights how encroachment, where buildings or developments creep right up to the water's edge, physically shrinks these habitats and can block the natural channels that feed them water. The way local communities use the water – for washing, animal bathing, or receiving industrial discharge – can degrade its quality if not managed sustainably. Furthermore, illegal activities like mining sand or clay from catchment areas or the lake beds themselves directly damage the ecosystem. Even seemingly harmless recreational activities can cause harm through trash dumping and shoreline erosion if unregulated. Perhaps most crucially, the researchers point out institutional weaknesses. Often, it's unclear exactly which governing body is responsible for protecting these resources in the fast-changing peri-urban landscape, or the local administration simply lacks the capacity to keep up with the pace of development and its impacts. This confusion or inaction allows the degradation to continue unchecked.
This research synthesizes findings from many previous studies, some of which might have focused on specific lakes or particular pollutants. Its strength lies in bringing these disparate threads together to create a broader diagnostic toolkit, specifically tailored to the unique pressures faced by static water bodies in India's peri-urban zones. It provides a more holistic understanding than looking at single issues in isolation. While based on existing literature rather than new primary data collection (a limitation inherent in review studies), it offers a crucial overview of the systemic challenges.
By clearly identifying culprits behind the degradation of these vital water bodies, the study provides a valuable roadmap for policymakers, planners, and local communities. It underscores the urgent need for proactive, comprehensive planning that integrates environmental protection with urban development. This means better wastewater treatment, stricter enforcement against pollution and encroachment, preserving natural drainage patterns, and perhaps most importantly, fostering active community participation in safeguarding their local water resources.
Protecting these lakes and ponds isn't just about saving wildlife; it's about ensuring water security, mitigating floods, maintaining local livelihoods, and building more resilient and sustainable cities for the future, directly contributing to goals like Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG 6) and Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11). Ignoring these sentinels on the urban fringe risks losing invaluable natural assets forever.
This research article was written with the help of generative AI and edited by an editor at Research Matters.