Cleaning, Repair & Restoration of Natural water resources
The mountains of Himachal Pradesh hold some of India's most precious freshwater sources. In Kheel Jasli, those sources were being quietly destroyed — and most people didn't even know it was happening.
Overview
The Challenge
Natural water sources — springs, streams, and channels — are not just infrastructure. They are part of the ecological identity of a mountain village. In Kheel Jasli, these sources had been progressively damaged through a combination of neglect, encroachment, and the grey water discharge from dozens of new buildings constructed without proper sewage systems.
Builders had deliberately blocked nallahs — natural drainage channels — to use the land for construction. When the rains came, water had nowhere to go. Roads flooded and eroded. Landslides threatened homes. Downstream, water that had once been safe to drink now carried pollutants leached from building waste and grey water. The entire natural water cycle of the village was under stress.
What We did
Earth Healers Foundation conducted detailed site visits in collaboration with IPH officials and community members to map the affected water sources and understand the full scope of the damage. We documented the specific nallahs that had been blocked, identified the buildings responsible, and presented formal evidence to the relevant authorities.
Impact & Current status
The clearance of the major nallah has had an immediate and visible impact on road safety and drainage in the affected area. Residents who had grown accustomed to flooding and road damage have seen direct improvement.
The effort has also demonstrated to the community that their concerns, when raised systematically and persistently, can produce government action.
What's next
Earth Healers Foundation conducted detailed site visits in collaboration with IPH officials and community members to map the affected water sources and understand the full scope of the damage. We documented the specific nallahs that had been blocked, identified the buildings responsible, and presented formal evidence to the relevant authorities.
Our most significant advocacy win came when we submitted a formal complaint to XEN PWD in June 2024, specifically regarding the deliberate blockage of nallahs by builders. By September 2024 — just three months later — the PWD responded by clearing the major nallah that had been causing the most significant damage. Roads that had flooded seasonally for years were finally protected. It was a small but deeply symbolic victory: evidence that systematic, documented advocacy could move even slow-moving institutions.In parallel, we worked with community members to clean and restore smaller water channels, removing debris and waste that had accumulated over years of neglect.