Haryana minister directs civic officials to identify reasons for waterlogging in Gurugram

The minister, who was addressing a meeting of senior MCG and GMDA officials on Saturday, also said that remedial measures should be immediately taken

State forest minister and Sohna MLA Sanjay Singh on Saturday directed officials of the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) and Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) to conduct a joint inspection and identify what led to heavy waterlogging in residential areas of Sectors 55, 56, 57, Sushant Lok 2, and Sushant Lok 3, and submit a report within two days.

Vehicles wade through a waterlogged stretch on National Highway 48 in Gurugram on Saturday. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

The minister, who was addressing a meeting of senior MCG and GMDA officials on Saturday, also said that remedial measures should be immediately taken, and the situation which arose on Thursday should not be repeated. He also said that action could be taken against officials if waterlogging continues.

The minister also asked MCG officials to ensure roads were repaired in Sushant Lok 2 and 3.

The meeting by the forest minister comes days after heavy waterlogging occurred in the above-named sectors. Residents said waterlogging up to a depth of three-four feet occurred on the roads of Sushant Lok and water also entered the ground floor of houses and basements, causing extensive damage.

“The officials of civic agencies were asked to inspect areas where waterlogging was taking place and take remedial measures immediately. They were asked to take steps to divert the water from residential areas to natural creeks and storm water drains. Steps such as cleaning the sewage drains and stormwater network should be taken up on priority, particularly in Sushant Lok 2 and 3 on priority,” said a representative of the forest minister.

“Heavy waterlogging took place in Blocks A and D of Sushant Lok Phase 3 and Blocks D and F of Sushant Lok Phase 2. In Phase 3, the storm water drainage system and sewage system is in very bad shape. Around 600 families in both areas were affected and residents faced extensive damage to their households in these areas. Authorities should take immediate measures so that this incident does not repeat,” said Pawan Yadav, president of Sushant Lok Phase 3 residents welfare association.

On Friday, GMDA said that heavy waterlogging occurred in Sectors 55, 56, and 57, and private neighbourhoods such as Sushant Lok 2 and 3 because of the poor condition of storm water drainage and sewage network in this area. “Storm water from these areas did not reach the natural creek nor the Khost nullah which moves along Southern Peripheral Road. So, we have asked municipal authorities to install more pumps and clean the drainage network to prevent waterlogging,” said Vikram Singh, executive engineer, GMDA.

A senior MCG official, however, said that the waterlogging was caused in these areas on Thursday due to an overflow of water in GMDA drains, and they had deployed three pumps to drain the storm water.