Behind the Scenes: How Hathi Gaon Restores Land from a Deserted Sand Quarry

If you’ve ever wondered how an open wound in the land becomes a place where elephants bathe and children play, Hathi Gaon in Jaipur is a masterclass. Built near the foothills of Amber (Amer) Fort, this “elephant village” pairs humane animal care with regenerative landscape design. Before a single house went up, the first priority was to heal a site battered by quarrying and monsoon runoff by structuring the terrain to hold rain.

Quick take: Hathi Gaon sits by the Amber hills. The project’s first move was to convert quarry-scarred ground into a chain of rain-fed water bodies and commons. These basins underpin daily life, from elephant bathing to year-round water security.

The Site, the Scar, and the Spark

Hathi Gaon—literally “elephant village”—occupies a broad tract close to Amer Fort on Jaipur’s northern edge. Years of sand extraction left raw pits, bare slopes, and poor soil stability. When RMA Architects took on the commission, they recognized that water—scarce for most of the year, torrential in the monsoon—was the site’s true client. Their first act was not to draw houses but to choreograph water: reshape landforms and stitch quarry pits into a cascade of rain-harvesting ponds. The settlement ultimately grows from this water-first armature: once basins and edges were shaped, paths and homes could lock into place without fighting the climate.

Designing for a Desert Edge

Rajasthan’s semi-arid belt swings from heat and dust to short, intense rains. On a mined site with little vegetation, stormwater tears through gullies and vanishes. An elephant settlement cannot depend on tanker trucks; baths, drinking, and evaporative cooling hinge on dependable water on-site. That is why Hathi Gaon treats landscape as infrastructure: the terrain is engineered first, architecture follows.

Step-by-Step: How the Quarry Became a Water Landscape

1) Reading the land, mapping flows

Survey teams studied the quarry’s edges and old extraction pits, tracing how monsoon sheets would move across the site. The design organizes these flows into a hierarchical system: feeder channels guide rain into shallow ponds, which overflow into larger basins. Earthen bunds, gabion checks, and carefully graded swales ensure the chain doesn’t fail at its weakest point. The strategy is simple: let water meander, not rush.

2) Turning scars into storage

Instead of filling pits, the team recast them as assets—desilting, benching edges for safety, and linking them with spillways. Some basins are shallow for quick recharge and bathing; others are deeper, shaded by tree belts, to slow evaporation. Together they form a string-of-pearls across the 80+ acre tract, with paths, pavilions, and bathing ghats placed where land meets water. Accounts describe the site as roughly 88 acres (about 35 hectares) reclaimed from quarry damage and replanted over time.

3) Harvesting roofs, yards, and lanes

Beyond the big moves, the masterplan treats every roof and courtyard as a rain-catcher. Downpipes feed percolation trenches and storage cisterns; lanes are cambered to direct runoff to planted swales. Capture happens at multiple scales, not just in the big lakes.

4) Cooling the microclimate

Water bodies reflect light and elevate humidity; shade trees lower ground temperature; breezeways through housing clusters vent hot air. Together these moves create comfortable pockets to linger.

5) Designing edges that do the real work

Ecologists often say “edges are engines.” Here, soft, vegetated edges slow wind, filter dust, and provide nesting and foraging for birds and pollinators. Shallow shelves let elephants enter and exit safely; stone revetments prevent erosion where footfall is heavy. The edge is where welfare and hydrology meet—with steps gentle enough for old joints, shade for waiting, and drain-down channels to keep paths usable after rains.

6) Building with local knowledge, materials, and skills

From sandstone retaining walls to lime-washed facades, the construction palette is deliberately local. Using familiar materials meant local masons and laborers could iterate on site, adjusting gradients and edges based on how water actually behaved during early storms. This “prototype, test, tweak” approach is why the system feels natural—it learned from the first rains rather than fighting them head-on.

Housing that Works with Land and Culture

Hathi Gaon’s architecture follows the topography. Clusters of compact homes for mahout families are grouped around shared courtyards and pavilions. The arrangement balances privacy with community: rooms open onto shaded courts where daily life spills out—cooking, repairs, banter, children’s play. Narrow lanes lead to larger commons near the water, where elephants are bathed and fed. The “housing” is therefore more than walls; it’s a network of shaded, staged spaces that tie the street to the shore.

Designers focused on relationships that matter: humans to elephants, women to water points, elders to shade, children to safe edges. Short walking distances to the basins support the routine of bathing and cooling elephants. Shared platforms double as gathering spaces and veterinary check-up zones. Because the climate punishes exposed surfaces, the fabric relies on thick walls, small openings, and cross-ventilation—techniques honed in Rajasthan for centuries.

Rebuilding Soil, Shade, and Biodiversity

A quarry is more than a hole; it is an ecological reset. Without topsoil and a seed bank, even a good rain grows little. Hathi Gaon’s restoration therefore pairs hydrology with a patient program of soil-making and planting:

• Soil recipes: Quarry fines mixed with compost and farmyard manure to build structure, then mulched heavily to keep moisture in. Starter beds fed the first trees; falling leaves accelerated humus formation year on year.
• Plant strategy: Begin with hardy pioneers and nitrogen fixers to establish shade and root networks; underplant with fruiting, flowering, and forage species that serve people and elephants alike. Inner belts handle trampling; outer belts build habitat for birds and insects.
• Shade-first thinking: In desert margins, shade is infrastructure. Early canopy targets focus on pathways, courts, and the immediate surrounds of water bodies to extend comfortable use hours into hot seasons.

Recovery is visible not just in green cover but in return visitors: dragonflies over open water, bee-eaters and bulbuls in tree lines, lizards on warm stones. While the project is known for elephants, these small colonists are the validators of a living system.

Operations: What It Takes to Keep a Water Landscape Alive

Restoration is not a one-off event; it is a practice. Keeping Hathi Gaon functional demands seasonal discipline:

• Pre-monsoon: Desilt feeder channels; check spillways; prune canopy to balance shade and air movement; repair any erosion scars from the previous year.
• Monsoon: Monitor water levels and turbidity after big showers; clear debris from screens; temporarily rope off saturated edges to prevent soil compaction.
• Post-monsoon: Replant failures; top up mulch; repair ghats and steps; schedule vaccinations and hoof care when the ground is forgiving.
• Dry season: Ration stored water carefully; check for algal blooms; maintain troughs and misting points near work areas; inspect masonry for thermal cracking.

Two practices matter most: data (simple logs of rain and pond levels) and community (everyday caretakers who spot issues early and act on them).

Human Stories: Mahouts, Families, and Everyday Rituals

For visitors, the drama is obvious—elephants stepping into a lake at dusk—but the most telling scenes are quieter: a grandmother in a shaded verandah, a mahout checking a footpad, teens lounging on a pavilion edge. The designed environment makes these rituals easy: shade where people pause; edge seats for conversation and quiet observation.

In interviews and public talks, the design team has emphasized multispecies thinking: success is measured by how well land, water, elephants, and people share a daily rhythm. That means predictable routines, safe temperatures, and minimal stress—for animals and humans.

Visitor Guide: See the Restoration, Leave No Trace

If you visit Hathi Gaon to learn about restoration (or to photograph it), a few simple habits amplify the project’s intent:

• Plan for soft light: Early mornings and late afternoons show the landforms and water edges at their best—and are cooler for elephants and people.
• Follow posted paths: Edges near fresh plantings and soft ground compact easily.
• Keep noise low: Long lenses beat loud drones. If drone use is permitted, fly far from animals and never during baths.
• Ask before photographing people: Courtyards are homes first.
• Carry a refillable bottle: This is a water-respectful site; avoid disposables.
• Support welfare: Choose activities that prioritize elephant health and learning over entertainment. Welfare-led housing and bathing routines exist to reduce stress and improve care.

Lessons for Other Quarries and Dry Regions

Hathi Gaon’s method relies on sequence over tech. Key takeaways for restoring degraded land in dry climates:

1. Landscape first, architecture second: Re-grade, capture, and store water before you lay foundations. Buildings should ride the hydrology, not dam it accidentally.
2. Work with what’s damaged: Convert pits to ponds; use spoil piles as windbreaks; design for maintenance from day one.
3. Redundancy beats heroics: Combine large basins with roof harvesters, swales, and soil sponges; don’t depend on a single tank.
4. Edge design is a welfare issue: Where animals and people meet water, steps, slopes, and shade make or break safety.
5. Local materials, local knowledge: Techniques that neighbors can repair will outlast novel materials that require specialists.
6. Measure, adapt, iterate: A seasonal schedule plus simple logs of rainfall and pond levels keep the system tuned without costly sensors.
7. Fold culture into ecology: Commons, ghats, and courtyards are not “extras” in India; they make stewardship social, visible, and desirable.

What the Numbers Say (and Why They Matter)

Public sources note that the project serves roughly a hundred elephants and their families, spreads across several dozen hectares, and began by rehabilitating land abused by sand extraction. The crucial pattern is scale (storage distributed across a landscape, not hidden in a tank room) and sequence (shape land, then build). Those two moves are what make the settlement resilient year after year.

FAQs

Q1. Was Hathi Gaon built on a former sand quarry?
Yes. The project team inherited a landscape cut up by quarrying. The first design move was to stitch those scars into a connected system of rain-fed water bodies that store and cool—turning a liability into the backbone of the settlement.

Q2. How does the site stay green in Rajasthan’s heat?
By banking rain during the monsoon, minimizing evaporation with shade and depth, and using soil-building and mulching to retain moisture. Distributed harvesting—from roofs to swales—adds resilience when a season underperforms.

Q3. Is the project only about elephants?
No. It is about multispecies living: elephants, mahout families, water, plants, birds, and microbes. Housing clusters, commons, and ghats are designed for shared routines and comfort—not just animal enclosures.

Q4. Can other quarry sites copy this approach?
Yes—with local tuning. Begin with hydrology mapping; keep interventions soil-based and repairable; phase tree belts and water edges to mature over years. The sequence—water, soil, shade, then architecture—translates well to other dry regions.

Q5. What’s the best time to visit if you want to see restoration in action?
Late monsoon to early winter often shows full ponds and fresh planting. Early mornings and late afternoons are most comfortable for people and elephants, and the light reveals landform intent beautifully. (Always follow local guidance.)

Q6. Are there ongoing phases or upgrades?
Yes. Sources reference additional phases linked to the project, focusing on institutional and landscape enhancements over time.

Q7. How does bathing help elephants (and the landscape)?
Bathing cleans skin, cools core temperature, and strengthens bonds between elephants and handlers. Designed ghats and graded entries protect shorelines from erosion while making bathing safe and repeatable.

Q8. What should photographers and filmmakers keep in mind?
Use long lenses; avoid flash near animals; seek permits where required; stick to paths and pavilions; and prioritize the welfare routine—bathing, feeding, resting—over staging shots. Low-impact shooting earns trust and the best images.

Wrap-Up

Hathi Gaon didn’t “add” sustainability to a housing project; it began by repairing land so that people and elephants could live well together. That reversal—landscape before architecture, water before walls—turns a desert-edge challenge into a daily choreography of shade, breeze, and gentle edges. From scars to storage, the transformation is ongoing—and instructive for places learning to live with less water and more heat. When you visit, look for the quiet details: a shaded step, a whispering spillway after rain, children tracing damp footprints along the ghats.