Gurugram: Farmers from eight villages near the Najafgarh drain submitted a memorandum Badhshahpur MLA Rakesh Daulatabad on Thursday, asking for a dam to be built to prevent the drain overflow from inundating their agricultural land.
Around 388 million litres of sewage discharge from Gurugram meets Najafgarh drain through Badshahpur drain, effectively creating a lake on the land around it every year, they said. There is already a border on the Delhi side of the border.
“We want the Haryana government raise a dam on the periphery of the border from the Gurugram side so that water does not spread onto our land. We used to cultivate on the land 15-20 years ago, but it is now water-logged and useless for us,” said Ramesh Vashisth, a farmer from Budhera village.
The letter claimed that nearly 5,600 acres of agricultural land have been water-logged on the Gurugram-Delhi border along the Najafgarh drain.
VS Kundu, chief executive officer, Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) and Daulatabad, along with the group of farmers, visited the wetland on Thursday.
“We requested Kundu for the visit so that the authority can think of raising a dam from the Gurugram side as well, so that farmers’ land can be protected from being water-logged every year. Kundu also agreed that the land needs to be protected since farmers used to grow crops here until two decades ago. But the rising population of Gurugram and a consequent increase in sewage disposal has led to this being converted into a wetland,” Daulatabad said.
{{/usCountry}}“We requested Kundu for the visit so that the authority can think of raising a dam from the Gurugram side as well, so that farmers’ land can be protected from being water-logged every year. Kundu also agreed that the land needs to be protected since farmers used to grow crops here until two decades ago. But the rising population of Gurugram and a consequent increase in sewage disposal has led to this being converted into a wetland,” Daulatabad said.
{{/usCountry}}“Only by raising a dam can we can streamline water to flow into Najafgarh drain,” he said, adding that he will also raise the issue in the state Assembly.
Villages affected by waterlogging include Makdaula, Chandu, Budhera, Kherki Majra, Dhankot, Mohammad Hedi, Daultabad and Dharampur located on the outskirts of the city, roughly 2km from the Dwarka expressway.
“We have also suggested that the GMDA divert the city’s recycled water to the Gairatpur Bas side, as there is the possibility of developing a lake like area using recycled water, and will also reduce waterlogging on the Najafgarh side,” Daulatabad said.
Farmers said they will bring the matter up in front of chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar at a district grievance committee meeting he is due to chair next week.
When asked, Kundu said, “I have visited the site and will look into the issue to redress the grievances.”