Abandoned water wells are being rejuvenated with a dash of color in the Tamil Nadu state of India.

Here, where clean water pulled from small wells is a daily necessity in the semi-arid Virudhunagar district that is entirely irrigated by rain and not by rivers, 163 wells were targeted for the project by local administrators.

Dreamt up by the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), work commenced in August of 2022 and was finished by December. Whimsical designs like a treasure chest, cup and saucer, a wrapped present, and watermelon were chosen for the wells' structures and shelters in order to raise awareness and enthusiasm for water conservation.

But the eye-catching designs were only the finishing touches. The important work was the recharging of the wells with a series of pipes that channel water from the surrounding land into the wells.

Over time the wells had been abandoned and became holes for dumping garbage.

"The wells for this project were strategically chosen based on their location. The wells situated near overhead water tanks and near water tanks were chosen so that the water overflowing from the tanks would drain into the wells for recharge," said an assistant engineer on the project at the DRDA, G Prakash Kumar.

"The wells situated in the low lying areas were also chosen for the rainwater to automatically drain to the well through the pipelines," he told the Times of India.

A village leader told the paper that children now frequently play around the well shelter, which has been built to look like a basket with bright colors, and the area has become somewhat of a gathering point where people socialize.

Another village leader, whose local well is shaped like a train car, agreed, and said that now children constantly ask him where the train is going.

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