Restored Singri riverfront in Narsinghpur draws families back to water
A Rs 4.8 crore project led by an IAS officer has transformed a polluted stretch of the Singri River into a community space.
A 600-metre riverfront has been restored in Nakatuwa, located in Madhya Pradesh’s Narsinghpur district, following a Rs 4.8 crore initiative. According to The Times of India, the project was led by Narsinghpur Zilla Panchayat CEO Gajendra Singh Nagesh and involved 26 projects implemented through local panchayats.
The Singri River, which flows for 39.6 kilometres before joining the Narmada, had previously become a polluted channel due to sewage, garbage, and encroachment. The new riverfront includes an open-air theatre, a cafeteria, and a community hall to encourage residents to gather by the water.
To restore the area, the administration removed encroachments from an initial 900-metre stretch. Instead of using concrete walls, workers used stone pitching to strengthen the banks, and the riverbed was raised by two to four metres.
The restoration was carried out during the Jal Ganga Samvardhan Abhiyan, a 100-day water-conservation campaign between March 19 and June 30, 2026. Nagesh stated that the administration is also setting up small filtration units where village drains meet the river to catch waste using screens, gravel, and sand.
While fish have been spotted in some areas, Nagesh said the water quality has not yet reached permissible limits. The administration plans to extend the filtration and restoration efforts to all 14 gram panchayats along the river.