When Gurunandan Rao first arrived at Bikkanahalli Kunte in Bengaluru, there was barely anything that looked like a pond.
The water body had dried up over time, its surface buried under thick layers of silt and waste. Encroachments had crept in, and years of neglect had erased its identity as a living system.
What once stored rainwater and supported the surrounding landscape had been reduced to a forgotten patch of land. Many looked at it and asked why anyone would even attempt to restore something that looked beyond repair.
Gurunandan, however, saw possibility.
The 7-month wait
Before anyone could step onto the site with machines and tools, Gurunandan had to do the slower, less visible work.
For nearly seven months, he and his team followed up on permissions, met government officials, spoke to residents, and worked through the careful process of clearing encroachments. It was the kind of work that rarely shows up in before-and-after pictures, but without it, the pond could never have been restored.
Only then could the first shovel touch the ground.
At 2 am, Gurunandan and his team finally arrived at the site. In the quiet of the night, they began clearing what years had buried. The team dug out large quantities of silt, removed waste, and gradually revealed the pond’s original form again.
Within 24 hours, the physical alteration was complete. Standing there, Gurunandan describes the moment, saying, “This pond is presented to you as a dream come true.”
And one day, life returned
A few days after the work was done, it rained.
For the first time in years, Bikkanahalli Kunte began to look like a water body again. The revived pond started filling up, and soon, the first signs of life followed. Kingfishers returned, then herons, and slowly, birds that had stayed away for years began coming back.
The pond could now hold twice as much water as before, giving it back the role it was always meant to play in the local environment.
But this wasn’t Gurunandan’s first restoration. Through HandsOn, the volunteer movement he founded, he has spent the past eight years working on the revival of Karnataka’s forgotten lakes and ponds.
With the support of 11,000 volunteers, 34 water bodies have already been brought back to life. Looking at what the pond could become, he reflects, “Imagine a day when this entire place is full of native trees, flowering trees, fruit-bearing trees, and rich biodiversity. That is what we dream of for this pond.”
