Residents of Gururgam’s Ward 1 irked over unfinished civic development

The incomplete status of these and other projects, like the SC Chaupal in Sarai village, continues to be a source of frustration for the community, residents claimed

Residents of Gurugram’s Ward Number One, which encompasses New Palam Vihar Phases 1 and 2, Pawala Khusrupur village, and several other areas, have repeatedly voiced frustration over the lack of development. Despite some progress during the tenure of the late MLA Rakesh Daultabad, many essential infrastructure projects remain unfinished, leaving residents to contend with deteriorating roads, frequent power outages, and inadequate drainage systems, they alleged.

A waterlogged damaged street in Daultabad industrial in Gurugram on Monday. (Parveen Kumar/HT)

Key areas within the ward, including New Palam Vihar Phases 1 and 2, Pawala Khusrupur village, sectors 106, 109, 112, and 113, Rattan Vihar, Swaroop Garden, Sarai Alawardi village, and Vishnu Garden, are plagued by pothole-ridden roads, overflowing sewage, and garbage accumulation, according to residents.

This has led to growing dissatisfaction among residents who feel neglected by both authorities and political parties, and is likely to become a major factor in the state assembly elections slated for October 1.

Sunny Daultabad, a resident of New Palam Vihar, one of the eight localities falling under this ward, acknowledged the partial success in regularising New Palam Vihar Phases 1 and 2 in March 2024 but said that much more work remains to be done. “The residents of this ward have waited long enough. It is time for the authorities to deliver on their promises and complete the pending projects on road and drainage,” he added.

Some developmental progress has been made, such as building a park in the Chhath Ghat area, establishing Ambedkar Bhavan in T-Block, a new library in New Palam Vihar, a community centre in Sarai village, and the beautification of ponds in Sarai and Jahajgarh villages.

Additionally, Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority constructed a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) in Jahajgarh village in 2022. Valmiki Chaupals community centres was also established in both Jajahgarh and Sarai villages.

However, the incomplete status of these and other projects, like the SC Chaupal in Sarai village, continues to be a source of frustration for the community, residents claimed.

“The road and sewerage work in our village was left unfinished after the contractor was blacklisted by Municipal Corporation of Gurugram. We have been suffering for months with broken roads and open drains. Sewage water overflows on roads in several localities giving rise to unhealthy environments and diseases,” said BK Singh, general secretary, of the resident welfare association in New Palam Vihar Phase-I.

Wing commander (retired) RS Pandey stressed upon the need for good roads, proper drainage, and a continuous power supply as indicators of a well-developed area.

“Our ward still needs an ample amount of work on these issues. We had waited for 35 long years for approval of New Palam Vihar for bringing it under municipal limits. We are thankful to our late MLA (Rakesh Daultabad), who had put in a lot of effort to achieve that. He also lobbied for this, which resulted in a lot of developmental projects to be launched,” he said.

Rekha Sharma, another New Palam Vihar resident, expressed her concerns over the unfinished Ambedkar Bhavan at xx [location]. “The building was supposed to be a community hub, but it’s still just a half-built structure. How long are we going to deal with such incomplete projects,” she added.

Similarly, Ramesh Singh from Jahajgarh, highlighted the incomplete work on the Valmiki Chaupal in Jajahgarh and Sarai Alawardi. “It was meant to be a place for our community gatherings, but it remains unfinished. The authorities need to push the contractors to complete it or else the project will continue to linger,” he demanded.

Another resident, Poonam Devi, said that they have been waiting for proper infrastructure for years. Now that our area is regularized, they expect the MCG to keep its promises. “The lack of progress and infrastructure is frustrating,” she added.

Concerns over the power supply were also raised by Bharat Nain, another resident of New Palam Vihar, who highlighted the frequent outages, and the inadequacy of feeders and transformers installed over a decade ago. “Frequent power outages are extremely annoying when they take place in a city like Gurugram. Discom has yet to investigate the issues. Feeders and transformers are of inadequate capacity,” he said, urging officials to upgrade the equipment.

Meanwhile, residents also criticized the inefficiency of contractors, which has resulted in several halted projects. “Many infrastructural development works started by the MCG have been left unfinished due to the incompetence of contractors or lack of funding. The main road in Sarai village is still in dire need of repairs, and the construction work of a small-scale project like SC Chaupal allotted a year ago, is yet to be completed,” Sunny Daulatabad added.

The tenure of Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) councillors expired in November 2022, and elections, delayed by ward delimitation issues, have yet to take place. According to officials, elections can only be held after the delimitation is completed and approved by the state government.

Under the changes made to the Municipal Act by the Haryana government, the administration has prepared a blueprint for ward delimitation in Gurugram, with MCG set to have 36 wards in July 2023, based on population data obtained from family identity cards and electoral rolls.

Mithlesh Barwal, former councillor of ward number one, said that the problem they had faced during his tenure that MCG officials do not respond to their calls or pay heed to their issues raised by them. “The officials only respond to the contractors. Situation deteriorated after death of MLA Rakesh Daultabad as the officials completely stopped responding to the civic issues raised by us or the residents,” she alleged.

Narhari Singh Bangar, MCG commissioner said that an audit of several pending and ongoing projects across the city had been carried out. “The grievances of the residents of the area were genuine and we will work to resolve them. The contractors will be taken to task who are delaying projects for months,” he said.

Meanwhile, an official of the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited, said they were already working to upgrade the feeders and transformers in several areas. “We know about the issues faced by the residents due to the increase in population and upgrade work will be done before next summer,” he added.