This Engineer Quit His Job to Restore 80 Dying Ponds Near Delhi

In the sprawling urban jungle of Delhi NCR, where concrete reigns and water bodies are often left gasping for breath, one man has been quietly bringing ponds back to life. Ramveer Tanwar, a former engineer-turned-ecological restorer, is fondly known as the ‘Pond Man’ — a title earned through tireless efforts that have revived over 20 wetlands in and around the region.

His journey from boardrooms to birdcalls is not just about ecological revival but about restoring faith in community-led conservation.

From BTech to backwaters

Born in Dadha village, Uttar Pradesh, Ramveer completed his BTech in Mechanical Engineering in 2014. Even as a student, he had begun to notice a troubling pattern: the ponds he once played in were disappearing. Once teeming with life, these water bodies had become garbage pits, overrun with weeds and pollution.

While most would have looked away, Ramveer couldn’t.

The more he studied environmental impact, the more he felt an urgent responsibility — not just as a concerned citizen, but as someone who understood what was being lost.

His initial efforts were modest. After college, he would return to his village in the evenings to manually clear weeds and plastic from a local pond. It was backbreaking work, done with the help of a handful of local youth. But slowly, that once-dead pond began to breathe again. 

Encouraged, Ramveer made a life-altering decision in 2016. He resigned from his corporate job to focus full-time on pond restoration.

He launched Jal Chaupal, a campaign that mobilised villagers to talk about water conservation and pond revival. What began as a small local effort soon snowballed. One pond became 10, then dozens, each revived not by external agencies, but by the people living around them.

A blueprint for wetland revival

Ramveer’s model is simple yet powerful. It places people, not machines, at the heart of environmental repair. He begins every project by calling a Jal Chaupal, or water assembly, in a village.

There, he explains not just the ecological importance of wetlands, but their role in culture, community and health. Villagers are not just invited but expected to participate by contributing labour, materials or funds. This builds a shared sense of ownership.

The revival work itself combines traditional methods with technical insight. Waste and invasive weeds are manually removed, sludge is cleared, and filtration systems are installed to prevent future contamination.

Many ponds are restocked with native fish species to maintain balance, and vegetation is planted to support biodiversity. Ramveer and his team monitor each restored pond for up to two years, ensuring long-term sustainability.

Recognising the power of visibility, he launched the ‘Selfie With Pond’ campaign — encouraging youth to share photos of restored ponds on social media. What were once neglected swamps have now become symbols of community pride and local environmental action.

Scaling impact: 80 ponds and counting

By 2022, Ramveer had helped revive nearly 40 ponds in the Delhi-NCR region alone. His NGO, Say Earth, works closely with CSR initiatives, government departments, and village panchayats. He was appointed as a Swachh Bharat brand ambassador, lending further momentum to his mission.

Restored ponds like those in Nayphal and Chauganpur villages have become more than water sources. Children now swim in clean water without fear of infections. Farmers report better groundwater levels. Birdsong has returned, and so has the joy of local festivals once held around these water bodies. In areas once plagued by mosquitoes, disease rates have dropped. What was dismissed as ‘wasteland’ has quietly reclaimed its place as a life-giving centre.

Why it matters

In a time of rising temperatures, erratic rainfall and worsening water scarcity, Ramveer’s work offers more than local solutions; it delivers a replicable, people-powered model. His restored wetlands contribute to groundwater recharge, improve biodiversity, and renew traditional connections between communities and their environment.

Where governments often struggle to protect large water bodies, Ramveer’s work proves that even small ponds can spark large change. They’re not just water reserves; they are living ecosystems; they are community spaces; they are memories.

A movement rooted in the soil

Ramveer Tanwar’s transformation from engineer to ecological guardian is more than a career shift, it is the story of a citizen reclaiming agency. He has helped revive over 20 ponds in Delhi-NCR alone, and nearly 80 across India, knitting together threads of environment, heritage, and collective action.

In the process, he’s changed not just landscapes, but mindsets. Today, as cities lose lakes to landfills and rivers to encroachment, the Pond Man of India reminds us of a simple truth: healing the Earth doesn’t always need billion-dollar budgets or mega-infrastructure. Sometimes, it just needs a shovel, a vision, and a few people willing to get their hands dirty.