Rekindling the Lost Spirit

Sukha-taal, a seasonal freshwater lake which would act as main recharge zone for the Nainital Lake, is challenged by urbanisation and mismanagement and is reduced to a degraded wasteland and small seasonal pond. The lake area is surrounded by residential Kumaoni community and encroachments of informal settlements at the edge of the lake- bed. Currently, the site is oblivious and disconnected to the local residents and falls short of inviting any activity except for waste dumping, parking and playing ground for small neighboring children. The project looks closely at the site and its adjacencies in terms of history, ecology, community and culture. The current physical state of the site offers potential to be developed and used as a functional open space responding to the immediate needs of the neighborhood as well as preserving the ecologically degraded lake as a whole