Chhappar (ਛੱਪੜ) is the Punjabi village pond, an open pool at the edge of the village that fills with rain. It once watered and bathed cattle and buffaloes and let water soak back underground, and Punjab is now cleaning thousands of these ponds again.
How it's used
- 1ਮੱਝਾਂ ਛੱਪੜ ਵਿੱਚ ਨਹਾ ਰਹੀਆਂ ਸਨ।The buffaloes were bathing in the village pond. Animals at the pond
- 2ਮੀਂਹ ਤੋਂ ਬਾਅਦ ਛੱਪੜ ਪਾਣੀ ਨਾਲ ਭਰ ਗਿਆ।After the rain, the pond filled with water. Rain fills it
- 3ਪਿੰਡ ਵਾਲਿਆਂ ਨੇ ਮਿਲ ਕੇ ਛੱਪੜ ਦੀ ਸਫ਼ਾਈ ਕੀਤੀ।The villagers together cleaned the pond. Shared work
Show 1 more example
- 4ਪਹਿਲਾਂ ਪਸ਼ੂ ਰੋਜ਼ ਛੱਪੜ ਤੋਂ ਪਾਣੀ ਪੀਂਦੇ ਸਨ।Earlier, the cattle drank water from the pond every day. The old daily use
ਛੱਪੜ ਪਿੰਡ ਦੇ ਕਿਨਾਰੇ ਸਥਿਤ ਖੁੱਲ੍ਹਾ ਤਲਾਅ ਹੁੰਦਾ ਹੈ। ਇਸ ਵਿੱਚ ਮੀਂਹ ਦਾ ਪਾਣੀ ਇਕੱਠਾ ਹੁੰਦਾ ਹੈ। ਪਹਿਲਾਂ ਪਸ਼ੂ ਇੱਥੇ ਪਾਣੀ ਪੀਂਦੇ ਸਨ, ਨਹਾਉਂਦੇ ਸਨ ਅਤੇ ਪਾਣੀ ਧਰਤੀ ਵਿੱਚ ਰਿਸ ਕੇ ਹੇਠਲੇ ਪਾਣੀ ਨੂੰ ਭਰਦਾ ਸੀ। ਅੱਜ ਬਹੁਤ ਥਾਵਾਂ ਤੇ ਛੱਪੜਾਂ ਦੀ ਸਫ਼ਾਈ ਅਤੇ ਡੂੰਘਾਈ ਦਾ ਕੰਮ ਫਿਰ ਚੱਲ ਰਿਹਾ ਹੈ।
What does Chhappar mean in Punjabi? Chhappar (ਛੱਪੜ) is the village pond: a low, open pool, usually at the edge of a Punjabi village, that fills with rain and run-off. For generations it watered cattle and buffaloes, gave animals a place to bathe, and let rain soak back into the ground.
What does Chhappar mean in Punjabi?
The dictionary sense is plain: pond, pool, tank. Rekhta lists chhappaḌ as a pond, pool or tank, and describes rainwater that gathers in hollows. Watch the Gurmukhi spelling: the pond is written with a ṛ, ਛੱਪੜ, while the close cousin ਛੱਪਰ, chhappar with an ordinary r, is a thatched roof or hut. One letter changes a roof into a pond.
What was a chhappar used for?
A Ludhiana district study of village pond water puts the old uses clearly: the ponds were used for storing rainwater for animals and for recharging underground water, and researchers describe them as multipurpose, for drinking, bathing domestic animals and irrigation nearby. The same study records the decline: when pond beds were not cleaned of silt, infiltration fell, household wastewater polluted the water, and people abandoned the use of pond water for animals.
Why are Punjab’s chhappars being cleaned now?
Because a neglected pond fills with silt and stagnant water, Punjab has begun cleaning them at scale. In May 2025 the Rural Development and Panchayats Minister said the state was cleaning and rejuvenating over 15,000 village ponds across 154 blocks, with dewatering and de-silting done before the monsoon, and Thapar and Seechewal model treatment units being built in thousands of villages. Reports from villages such as Boormajra, Khairabad and Sanipur describe silt reused to level grounds and fields, and farmers expecting cleaner water for irrigation.
Is a chhappar the same as a khuh or a nehar?
No. A khuh is a well, a deep shaft you draw water up from, and a nehar is a canal that carries water from place to place. A chhappar is open and still: it holds the water that rain and the village itself give it, right where it falls. That is why its health depends on the village around it, on clean inlets, desilting, and keeping wastewater out.
Related words
Sources (3)
- Rekhta Dictionary, chhappaḌ: pond, pool, tank; rainwater that collects in pits
- Toor et al. (2011), Suitability of village pond waters for irrigation, a case study from district Ludhiana: village ponds were used for storing rainwater for animals and recharging underground water; multipurpose use for drinking, bathing domestic animals and irrigation; silt and pollution led people to abandon the use of this water for animals
- The North News, 26 May 2025, Punjab’s village ponds revived in landmark clean-up drive: initiative to clean and rejuvenate over 15,000 village ponds across 154 blocks, dewatering and de-silting figures, Thapar and Seechewal model treatment units, and the Boormajra, Khairabad and Sanipur village examples
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