Villagers and officials restore the Singri River in Madhya Pradesh

Gajendra Singh Nagesh, an IAS officer and CEO of the Narsinghpur Zilla Panchayat, led a 4.8 crore Indian rupee restoration project to revive the 39.6-km Singri River in Madhya Pradesh.

The river had become a neglected drainage channel due to sewage, household waste, and construction encroachment. The initiative began in January 2026 to restore the waterway before it joins the Narmada River.

The administration divided the restoration into 26 smaller projects managed by local panchayats rather than relying solely on outside contractors. This approach allowed for direct community involvement, where 50 to 100 villagers participated in voluntary work known as shramdaan. These residents helped remove waste and silt from the river. The project also included reinforcing 2,000 metres of riverbanks with stone to maintain a natural connection to the environment.

To address ongoing pollution, the administration installed six gravity-fed mini-filtration plants across four gram panchayats: Rausara, Magardha, Nakatuwa, and Khamtara. These units use screens and layers of gravel and sand to trap plastic and suspended particles without needing electricity. While freshwater fish have begun returning to the water, Nagesh stated that the river water quality has not yet reached permissible standards. The administration plans to expand these efforts to all 14 gram panchayats along the river.