Construction guzzles 37 mn gallons of water

In a petition filed with the Punjab & Haryana high court, DLF Qutub Enclave Residents Welfare Association (QERWA) has sought an immediate ban on construction work at 262 sites terming them as groundwater guzzlers.

In a petition filed with the Punjab & Haryana high court, DLF Qutub Enclave Residents Welfare Association (QERWA) has sought an immediate ban on construction work at 262 sites terming them as groundwater guzzlers.

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They claimed that these construction activities consumed about 37 MGD (million gallons per day) of groundwater daily.

The RWA has also sought a check on further sanctions of residential and commercial projects till the issue of groundwater is addressed.
Out of 262, 106 projects are residential and 156 are commercial in nature, including malls, office complexes and market plazas.

The association said that construction activity at these projects, sanctioned in the last three years, will add 680 million square feet in area and consumed groundwater at the rate of 100 litre per square feet per day.

It was because of this major extraction that the water level in Gurgaon has been plummeting by eight metres every year since 2000, the QERWA has claimed.

The former president of DLF QERWA, RS Rathee, who had filed the petition, said the Haryana government collected external development charges to the tune of Rs 5000 crore since 2007 for issuing 262 development licenses. However, they have failed to ensure sufficient water for these projects.

More than 70% of the water requirement in New Gurgaon was met by the groundwater, he added.

“Many new Gurgaon townships are dependent on groundwater. If HUDA cannot meet the water demand of existing colonies, the Haryana government should stop issuing more licenses to developers for more projects,” Rathee added.

Gurgaon deputy commissioner Rajender Kataria said that the NCR Water Canal, which is on the verge of completion, would supply 500 cusec water to meet the growing water demand for next 25 years.