Seepage and percolation (sp) loss of water is a major reason behind the poor water productivity in wetland rice. recent studies have indicated that preferential water flow through bunds around rice fields is primarily responsible for high sp loss in rice. while the puddling operation is effective against percolation losses through the paddy field itself, unintervened bunds becomes sink with the loss of a large amount of water through seepage and preferential flow. a cost-effective and easy-to-implement method for reducing water loss through bunds is the extension of the plow sole to the under-bund soil adapted in this study. the method consists of three steps: temporary removal of existing bunds, puddling of under-bund soil, and replacement of bunds above the puddled under-bund soil. the effectiveness of such a bund plugging method was evaluated by measuring physical and hydraulic properties of different soil layers both before and after bund treatment. it was observed that the bund-plugging operation destroyed the existing macropore network in under-bund soil and created a consolidated layer at a shallow depth. the presence of a plow sole in under-bund soil reduced sp loss to about 50% in the kharif season and 22% in the rabi season.