Sewage overflow, untreated wastewater major concerns for Sec 85 residents

Residents of the Carnation Residency housing society alleged that their premises have turned into breeding grounds for mosquitoes due to overflow and stagnation of sewage

Overflowing sewage and untreated household wastewater spill on the roads are posing a health hazard to residents of Sector 85, with residents alleging inaction by authorities for over two years despite this being a persistent issue.

Residents of Carnation Residency blamed civic apathy despite problems persisting for over two years. (Sourced)

Residents of the Carnation Residency housing society alleged that their premises have turned into breeding grounds for mosquitoes due to overflow and stagnation of sewage. They said the situation worsened after the heavy rain last week and that a foul stench from the sewage has forced them to confine themselves to the building.

The condominium is spread across 29 acres, with 1,600 apartments in all. Around 1,000 have shifted to the complex since 2015.

They said that as the level of the road in front of their society is low, foul water gets collected there and also led to accidents often.

Ashish Gupta, a member of the Carnation Residency residents’ welfare association (RWA), said that the issue of overflow is in neighbouring Sikanderpur Barha village, from where untreated household wastewater is channelled. Also, the village drain is not connected to the master drain and leads to overflow onto sector roads, he said.

“We are facing extensive waterlogging due to which chances of mosquito-borne diseases such as chikungunya and malaria remain high. Last year, our area was declared a large outbreak area. Shockingly, the authorities have not laid the pipelines yet. We have been suffering for the past two years, and yet, no one is bothered,” he said.

Naresh Kumar, the vice-president of the RWA, said that they have run from pillar to post for the last few years. “We were promised a solution to this during the state elections. However, post elections, there is no word on this. We have approached all government officials about this. The situation has turned so bad that we have to lock the main gate and use alternate routes to exit/enter the society,” he said.

Residents also said that the extensive waterlogging might compromise the integrity of the construction and cause a building collapse, on the lines of an incident in Farrukhnagar last week that left three dead.

Satinder Singh Bhatia, another RWA member, said that they have paid external development charges (EDC) as well as infrastructure development charges (IDC) to the government but there seems to be no end to their problem. “We are not asking for any favours, but a proper utilisation of our money,” he said.

The residents, on Saturday, once again wrote to the newly formed Municipal Corporation of Manesar (MCM), highlighting the precarious condition of civic amenities in the area. They also alleged that de-silting was not done before the monsoon and this resulted in blockage. They also said that after a lot of effort, they managed to get financial approval from the public works department (PWD) for fixing the problem, but the matter was put on hold.

“The MCM is still a nascent civic body. We were formed only in December last year. This year’s monsoon is our first experience of waterlogging and are, hence, heavily reliant on residents for feedback,” said a senior MCM official.

The official quoted above said that the MCM is in the process of creating a database of waterlogging points, points where sewerage or stormwater drain overflow, and combined with rains, are leading to issues and will, accordingly, execute measures ahead of the next monsoon.

Yash Garg, the deputy commissioner of Gurugram, said that the administration will look into the matter and get the issue checked at the earliest. “Will check with other agencies and ensure the issue is resolved at the earliest,” he said.