The good practice is about using 'Green Technique' to clean the debris, renovation of the pond - De Pukhu, under the leadership and contribution of local people. The debris was cleared; walls are converted into public spaces, decorated with traditional arts and thereby created public spaces for women, children, youth and elderly. This has enhanced the ambiance of the area attracting tourists. There is a plan to add open coffee shop next to the pond.

UN-Habitat in partnership with local community enhanced one of the existing public spaces that were in a dilapidated condition. De Pukhu is the historic pond of Bungamati which was filled with debris and dirt badly reducing the depth and was putrid and polluted.The main objective of the practice was to develop a strategy for "Sustainable Tourism and Green Growth for Heritage Settlements of Kathmandu Valley." The project is working for the effective implementation of strategy for SDG 11: "Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable" - Target 11.7: "By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women children, older persons and persons with disabilities."
De-Pukhu stands as one of the significant infrastructures within the heritage settlement that has closer ties with local people both culturally and religiously. The pond is one more point of attraction and most the tourist visit this pond. A water infrastructure with standing water within the settlement is always pride and attraction and moreover provides ecological services to the settlement. It recharges the ground water, avail water for several water rituals including after-the-death rituals. The pond is also used to wet cane in the 12th year special chariot festival of Machchindranath. Cleaning of the pond demands cautious, sensitive, and manual labour. Unlike the rough practice of cleaning ponds using dozers seen in other settlements, local community made it through manually to protect pond infrastructures. This labor intensive work was important as the clay-lined floor can be punctured with heavy equipment. To meet the challenge, proper advocacy of the importance sensitive intervention was discussed with the community which was successfully supported by the intellects within the community.

The main beneficiary of the initiative was local community. After the revitalization of the pond with more spaces for women and elderly to bask on sun and socialize local community is very happy. This is the reason they have invited a private sector to open an open-air cafe next to the pond. This will attract more tourists and elongate their stay. The pond renovation also brought innovations by attracting youths to contribute in making the traditional paintings on walls.

The first step was the community consultation. Discussions and meetings were carried out with local community, and their cluster committee along with Bungamati Area Reconstruction Development Committee (BARDeC). The first official community meeting was held on 21st September 2018. The committee, with the support of the technical team from CIUD and UN-Habitat prepared a comprehensive plan for the revitalization of the De-Pukhu that includes cleaning of the pond, adding street furniture, adding solar lights along the area etc. As the committee agreed on the concept, the plan was further forwarded to BARDeC and Ward 22 for approval. Compiling the recommendation, the concept plan was ready for action. Out of the several local contractors, Ms. Gyani Maharjan was selected by the committee for her experience, commitment and her bond to the local pond. Regular, weekly, cluster meetings were carried out to review the progress and the development. CIUD provided quality control and quality assurance. The Ward Chairman and members regularly visited the ongoing works. This was also helpful in quality control. The work was also observed by the mayor of Lalitpur Metropolitan City and National Reconstruction Authority (NRA).

Previously the depth of the pond was only 3 ft. due to the accumulation of the debris and mud, thereby making the stagnant water more turbid and dirty. The project cleaned about 25,500.00 cu.ft. of mud and sediments from the pond ultimately making the pond about 10 ft. depth. The clean-up has ultimately increased the capacity of pond, made the water less murky and more usable especially for the cultural and religious activity. While there had been news of lots of ancient pond being damaged using heavy equipment use, this pond remained filled with water even after the intervention and the revitalization work.

Sensitive approach of revitalization of traditional ponds is very crucial as there are possibilities of damaging the bed soil profile of the pond. In modern technology and engineering studies where the structure of pond has not been specifically defined, extra precautions need to be taken so that the natural integrity is not to be disturbed. There are lots of uncertainty regarding the success of the project yet the advice from the experts and the patience to lead the work were the main driving force of the project. For the sustainability of the initiative, financial resources are always a challenge. In this initiative, the proposed coffee shop will regularly provide income to the community to maintain the pond in the long run, bringing in the economic base for sustainability. The cluster committee leadership in the renovation work, and their commitment to continue to look after the pond management and maintenance is very strong base for the social sustainability of the public space. Certain fund from the allocated business shall be contributed to the sustainability of the pond in near future as per the recently developed "Business Development Plan."

The major part of the restoration, revitalization of the heritage associated work is the community participation and ownership from the community and local government body. Revitalization of De-Pukhu can be termed successful due to the patience shown by the community to clean the pond without damaging the base of the pond. Taking advice from the experts and the technicians on the right moment also lead the activity in the right direction. Advocacy to the community regarding the enhancement of the open public space and the community being able to understand the topic was the driving force to the campaign.