Gurugram civic body to revive six-acre pond in Subhash Nagar
Under the Gurujal, an integrated water management initiative of the district administration, the water body in Subhash Nagar will be restored as a percolation pond which will serve as a catchment area for run-off rainwater and help groundwater recharge, the officials said
In a bid to revive a six-acre pond in Subhash Nagar near Sector 16, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has decided to clean and excavate the water body from next month, said officials on Tuesday.
Under the Gurujal, an integrated water management initiative of the district administration, the water body in Subhash Nagar will be restored as a percolation pond which will serve as a catchment area for run-off rainwater and help groundwater recharge, the officials said.
Small ponds located in low-lying areas that store run-off rainwater and aid groundwater recharge are known as percolation ponds.
The move is also expected to mitigate waterlogging-related issues on Old Railway Road and New Railway Road as the MCG aims to channel rainwater from these stretches towards the water body after it is revived.
According to representatives of Gurujal, currently, the six-acre water body has been reduced to four acres due to encroachment. Further, it serves as a spot for garbage dumping and is filled with sewage from nearby households which has resulted in heavy silt deposition and reduced the pond’s original depth from four metres to 2.5 metres, they said.
In 2019, MCG had observed that sewage from around 110 households was discharged into the pond through a pipeline.
“The MCG has disconnected the main sewerage line and provided an alternative line for it. Now, sewage from only around a dozen households located in the immediate vicinity is being discharged at the pond. We are in the process of placing septic tanks to tackle the issue,” said a senior MCG official privy to the matter.
The MCG had originally planned to clean the pond in early 2020. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the plan was suspended, the officials said. At that time, Gurujal had also proposed to landscape the area near the pond with native vegetation, open-air theatres, open-air library, shaded pathways, sitting areas, recreational areas, government-sanctioned shops, walkways, fountains, among other amenities for tourism purposes.
However, the MCG has declined this proposal and instead is focusing on reviving the water body. For this purpose, it has floated a ₹24.86 lakh detail notice inviting tender for the project.
“We will be reviving the pond in a phased manner. The first step is to desilt it. Then we will build a boundary wall around it, and subsequently, plant native vegetation. We will also be building a pedestrian track around the pond,” said Subhash Yadav. district forest officer and nodal officer of the environment and sustainability wing of the MCG.
A representative of Gurujal said, “The first step is to remove all unwanted silt and other materials from the bed of the pond. The next step is to clear out all types of liquid from the water body and then fill it with recycled or treated water and increase its percolation rate. Until we get a fresh layer of soil, we will continue to desilt and excavate the pond to reach its original depth.”
Gurujal representatives said about the pond that legend has it that Bheem in Mahabharata had halted there to quench his thirst.
Experts said that diminishing surface and sub-surface water availability has affected the local ecosystem. “Managed aquifer recharge in the NCR can act as water banking, wherein water is stored below the ground for use later on. This offers environmental, health, and economic benefits,” said Dr Indu K Murthy, principal research scientist at the Centre for Study of Science, Technology and Policy.