Treated water for Vatsal Valley, Gwal Pahari soon

The pipeline for supplying water to Gwal Pahari has mostly been laid by HSVP, with only a few small stretches remaining

After nearly a decade of waiting, residents of Gwal Pahari and Vatsal Valley on Faridabad Road will finally receive treated canal water for drinking. The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) has announced plans to construct a boosting station and an underground tank with a capacity of 4 lakh kilolitres to supply treated water to the area. GMDA officials said that work for construction has been awarded and the project shall be completed by the end of 2025.

(Representational image) Despite local protests over land acquisition, around 17 to 18km of the 450mm water pipeline has been laid, they added. (HT Archives)

The project to supply water in Gwal Pahari was conceived in 2011-12 and Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) had laid the pipeline to supply water, said officials. However, the pipeline was not completely laid due to objections by villagers, they added.

GMDA chief engineer Rajesh Bansal said that the project will cost ₹4.35 crore and will commence soon. “Treated water from the Sector 72 boosting station will be supplied to Gwal Pahari and surrounding residential and commercial projects. We have secured approximately 2.5 acres of land for the project from the HSVP,” he added.

The pipeline for supplying water to Gwal Pahari has mostly been laid by HSVP, with only a few small stretches remaining, Bansal said. “There were objections from villagers in Ghata, but we will prioritise resolving this issue. The boosting station will be completed in 18 months, benefiting around 40,000 people who currently depend on groundwater,” the chief engineer said.

Officials aware of the development said that the original conception of the project was to lay the master water pipeline between Gurugram and Gwal Pahari, passing through Ghata in 2010-2011. However, it faced delays due to objections from the forest department and local villagers over land acquisition and pipeline placement. Despite these challenges, around 17 to 18km of the 450mm water pipeline has been laid, they added.

Vaishali Chandra Rana, an activist and resident of Valley View apartments, said that they have been waiting for water supply from GMDA for the last four years. “The residents of the area are dependent on groundwater, which is depleting every year and borewells are drying. Around 5000 people live in our condominium alone, and the population has increased in the entire area as several new residential and commercial projects have come up. This project should be executed as a priority as it will help thousands of people,” she said.

The Haryana government has renamed the area around Gwal Pahari village to Vatsal Valley, which has seen significant development, officials said. These developments include residential and commercial projects and a special economic zone (SEZ), they added.Major projects in the area include Ansal Valley View, Paras Quartier, Ireo Gurgaon Hills, Krish Provence, Four Seasons, and ASF Insignia.