Restoring Hyderabad’s Heritage, One Drop at a Time: Kalpana Ramesh’s Fight for Water and Wells
By Vaishnavi D
In a city of gleaming high-rises and historic monuments, water and heritage often seem worlds apart. For Kalpana Ramesh, a conservationist and community activist, the two are inseparable. From reviving ancient wells to rejuvenating lakes, she has become a quiet force behind Hyderabad and Telangana’s most ambitious water restoration initiatives.
Early Steps: Building Community Awareness
Kalpana Ramesh’s journey began in 2011, with a simple idea: make her community “tanker-free” and teach the value of rainwater. In an interview with Fridaywall Magazine, Kalpana explained, “This basic knowledge about rainwater we get, and how we can augment this, reuse the rainwater, and ecosystems by using recharge. You need to do a different thing in tandem to achieve what water is, holistic conservation, which, looking at our lakes, rejuvenating lakes, wells, I understand surface water bodies, and groundwater. Surface bodies are very important; this huge amount of rainfall has to be captured somewhere, otherwise everything’s going off into an urban flood, lakes, wells, and rainwater systems, common areas, within communities, and in roads. But when it comes to lakes, this is important because we are going through something called climate change. It’s triggered huge amounts of rainfall, cloudburst, all of these require large buckets as surface water bodies, so this will immediately capture surface water bodies; it needs to be deeper, protected, and not encroached.”
Wells that Speak of History
Among her major restoration projects, three wells stand out: the Osmania University Well, the Bansilalpet Well, and a historic well near Kondapur. Each has been carefully revived to retain both its structural integrity and cultural significance.
“Most of them are garden beds. If all these come back, think of the water it can hold when it rains,” Ramesh noted. Each restoration involved clearing decades of neglect, including sewage inflows, litter, and unregulated waste disposal. She recalls uncovering thousands of wedding cards dumped in Bansilalpet Well, tracking the sources, and educating communities on proper disposal.
These wells are more than historical artifacts; they are functional water sources. “Roof tops are the cleanest. Why can’t you reuse it for domestic purposes? Zero discharge, and all. Ethical recharge,” she said, emphasizing that wells and rainwater projects are a critical line of defense against water scarcity in urban India.
Lakes and Climate Reality
Ramesh’s work extends to lakes, including the sprawling Kondapur Lake. Urban development and climate change had left it neglected and polluted. “It’s triggered huge amounts of rainfall, cloudbursts, all these require large buckets as surface water bodies,” she said. Her team coordinated with multiple authorities, including GHMC, irrigation departments, town planning, and HMWSS, to open blocked inlets and manholes, ensuring sewage no longer contaminated the lake.
The process was painstaking. “Earlier, Restoring Hyderabad’s Heritage, One Drop at a Time: Kalpana Ramesh’s Fight for Water and Wells
In a city of gleaming high-rises and historic monuments, water and heritage often seem worlds apart. For Kalpana Ramesh, a conservationist and community activist, the two are inseparable. From reviving ancient wells to rejuvenating lakes, she has become a quiet force behind Hyderabad and Telangana’s most ambitious water restoration initiatives.
Early Steps: Building Community Awareness
Kalpana Ramesh’s journey began in 2011, with a simple idea: make her community “tanker-free” and teach the value of rainwater. In an interview with Fridaywall, Kalpana explains, “Basic rainwater harvesting and recharge augment ecosystems by replenishing groundwater and wells. On the other hand, holistic conservation demands rejuvenating surface water bodies like lakes and wells. Lakes are especially important to capture intense rainfall from climate-driven cloud-bursts and to prevent urban flooding. These large buckets of water need to be deeper protected and not encroached upon”.
While actively canvassing for rainwater harvesting, she started The Rain Water Project; and began to take up restoration of wells, lakes, and community water bodies. Over coming challenges and resistance Kalpana Ramesh over the years has successfully worked on various restoration projects.
Wells that Speak of History
Among her major restoration projects, three wells stand out: the Mah Lala Bai, Osmania University Well, the Bansilalpet Step Well, and a historic well near Kondapur Sheshadri Marg. Each has been carefully revived to retain both its structural integrity and cultural significance.
“Most of them are garden beds. If all these come back, think of the water it can hold when it rains,” Ramesh noted. Each restoration involved clearing decades of neglect, including sewage inflows, litter, and unregulated waste disposal. She recalls uncovering thousands of wedding cards dumped in Bansilalpet Well, tracking the sources, and educating communities on proper disposal.
These wells are more than historical artifacts; they are functional water sources.,” she said, emphasizing that wells and rainwater projects are a critical line of defense against water scarcity in urban India.
Lakes and Climate Reality
Ramesh’s work extends to lakes, including the sprawling Kondapur Lake. Urban development and climate change had left it neglected and polluted. “In the recent years climate change triggered huge amounts of rainfall, cloudbursts; all these require large buckets as surface water bodies,” she said. Her team coordinated with multiple authorities, including GHMC, irrigation departments, town planning, and HMWSS, to open blocked inlets and manholes, ensuring sewage no longer contaminated the lake.
The process was painstaking. “Earlier, temple water overflowed with sewage with no regard for gods, or the lake,” she said. Through sustained engagement, she created a Lake Protection Committee and organized community clean-ups, often convincing initially reluctant residents to participate.
Rainwater Projects: From Awareness to Action
Alongside structural restorations, Kalpana spearheaded three neighbourhood-level rainwater harvesting projects. Her philosophy is simple: “Awareness on action does not work; action upon awareness works.” The initiatives include rooftop capture systems, recharge pits, and garden bed integration to maximize water retention.
She also hopes to expand her efforts through an enterprise focused on local awareness. “I want to focus on working at a neighbourhood level,” she said. “It’s not just one-day clean-ups or walks; I want long-term engagement with people.”
Community Impact and Future Vision
Kalpana Ramesh’s work has transformed not only physical landscapes but the mindset of communities. Residents near Kondapur Lake and the restored wells have reported cleaner water, safer neighbourhoods, and a renewed pride in their heritage. Schools, tech institutes, and apartment associations now actively participate in cleanup drives, signalling a growing culture of civic responsibility.
“Roof tops are the cleanest. Why can’t you reuse it for domestic purposes? She adds.
Looking ahead, Ramesh is optimistic yet pragmatic. “Today, it’s the norm that river water is used in flushing. It’s very sad. River water is the food security of tomorrow,” she said. Her mission blends conservation, historical preservation, and climate resilience, demonstrating how a single person’s vision can ripple through a city.
For Hyderabad and Telangana, Kalpana Ramesh is proving that heritage restoration is not just about preserving the past; it’s about safeguarding the future, one well, one lake, and one drop at a time.
Hyderabad Lake
