Water deprived residents in Gurugram heap blame on agencies for plight

The authorities, however, say they have been working to resolve the resident’s water woes--they have increased supply to some areas and have asked RWAs of others to request additional pipelines so that piped supply can be doubled

Come summer and residents of many sectors in Gurugram face an acute shortage of water. This year seems to be no different, with residents of Sushant Lok 1, 2 and 3, South City 2, Sector 56, and adjoining areas already complaining of inadequate and irregular water supply for nearly two weeks, with most of them having to pay between ₹1,700 and ₹2,000 for a tanker nearly every day to meet their requirements.

Residents of sectors 56 and 57 wait at the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) Office during the Residents’ Delegation meeting with the officials in Gurugram, India, on Monday. (Vipin Kumar/HT PHOTO)

Residents also alleged that the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) and Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) have not paid any heed to their issues despite repeated complaints, a charge both authorities refuted.

“Either we get inadequate water supply, or we do not get a single drop. During summers, the GMDA should increase their water supply and the developers should improve their distribution network. The demand for water has increased over the years so developers should apply for new connections, increase the capacity of their pipes and tanks and make efforts to ensure water is supplied at a higher pressure and volume, so that overhead tanks, especially in old buildings, get filled completely,” said Servesh Mathur, a resident of Block M, Sushant Lok 3.

Despite the MCG taking over South City 1 and 2 in April 2019, inadequate water supply remains an issue for residents of the two colonies as the services are still provided by the developer. Water is supplied by the GMDA to the developer, who routes it to the colony. To compensate for this, the residents say, they have had to rely on private tankers, which are expensive--almost 10 times the rate of GMDA, which charges ₹9.45 per kilolitre.

Neeraj Yadav, president, residents’ welfare association of South City 2, said that the demand for water has increased due to the increased number of families that have shifted here in the last three years. He said that more than 120 new houses are being constructed in the area and all of them have drinking water connections approved by MCG. “Not to mention all of them use drinking water for construction. MCG already constructed one additional underground tank in South City 2, but GMDA hasn’t provided a connection for these underground tanks. Now that old floors are being demolished and owners are constructing up to four floors, as per the new norms, this has increased the infrastructure load in the area,” he said.

Sushant Lok 1 residents have also complained of facing water shortage for over a month due to erratic electricity supply and allege that no authority is resolving the issue. With no power, residents are not able to turn on their motors to pump water to overhead tanks.

Sudhir Sachdeva, a member of the Sushant Lok Residents Welfare Association, said that the motors at the boosting station often don’t work. “We had requested additional water supply from GMDA/MCG because of the increase in the number of households, which was approved over two years ago, and work in this regard had started too. The new connections and the tank were to be completed and made functional at least a year ago. But we are still waiting for them to be ready. We have met all the officers concerned but to no avail. Our suffering is only increasing each day,” he said.

The authorities, however, said they have been working to resolve the resident’s water woes.

Sudhir Rajpal, CEO, GMDA, met residents and RWA members on Monday to discuss the water shortage issue. He directed RWA members of Sushant Lok 2 and 3 to seek greater water allocation from GMDA and assured approval for any new connection.

Rajpal said 335 kilo litres per day (KLD) of water is being supplied to the underground tanks in Sushant Lok 2--which was already higher than the supply last year. “The GMDA team along with the builder helped clear the blockages in the pipeline last week, thereby increasing the water supply to 512 KLD in the colony. The builder had not maintained the pipelines, resulting in a disruption in the water flow due to which the residents’ needs were not being met. The GMDA team stepped in and cleared the blockages to facilitate greater water allocation for residents,” he said.

GMDA officials said that currently, the water supply to Sushant Lok 3 is 750 KLD, which is the same as last year, because the internal pipeline only has this much capacity. However, they have asked the RWA to apply for another add-on water connection. The GMDA will approve the additional request and residents will then have access to double the water supply.

“It was brought to our attention that residents of Sushant Lok 2 and 3 are facing difficulties due to water scarcity. Keeping in view the increased water consumption in the summer, appropriate initiatives have been undertaken to combat this issue. We will take necessary steps to ensure that residents have access to uninterrupted water supply in the upcoming months,” said Rajpal.

TL Sharma, chief engineer, MCG, said that Sushant Lok 1 lacks infrastructure and the issue has been pending even before the civic body took over the colony. “There were illegal tube-wells in the area and they are still not availing water from GMDA which is a major concern. We are trying to resolve the ongoing water issues and we are exploring more options. We have also constructed a boosting station and we are hopeful to resolve the water scarcity problem,” he said.