Your building could be next

It is supposed to be a world-class city in the making, minus the amenities. Behind the façade of high-rises and condominiums hide very basic issues like blocked sewer lines and missing storm water drains, reports Atul Mathur.

It is supposed to be a world-class city in the making, minus the amenities. Behind the façade of high-rises and condominiums hide very basic issues like blocked sewer lines and missing storm water drains.

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What the 1,000-odd residents of Belvedere Park experienced on Thursday could have had happened in any multi-storeyed apartment complexes in DLF, Sushant Lok or South City.

In fact, there were several complaints of water entering the basement in housing colonies developed by private developers.

Most residential sectors in new Gurgaon do not have storm water drains and trunk sewer lines. While some developers have provided storm water drains in their colonies, they serve little purpose in absence of connecting peripheral drains.

“The authorities might be constructing peripheral drains on paper but nothing is happening on ground. Even a little rain results in waterlogging,” said Col. Rattan Singh (retired), chairman, Joint Action Forum of Residents’ Association.

The developers bought gram panchayat land and constructed buildings. “Some drains were filled by the developers and some have been encroached upon by villagers. Rainwater will automatically flow back or stagnate in absence of drains,” said R.S. Rathee, president, Qutub Enclave Residents Welfare Association.

Gurgaon has witnessed massive construction and development with large number of private developers coming up with residential, commercial, institutional and retail projects. But the government, said residents, failed to keep up with the face of development.

They said the government allowed constructions instead of building infrastructure before that and is planning to develop basic infrastructure now.

“The Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) is laying down trunk sewer line and peripheral storm water drain system now. The drains and sewer lines laid by us in residential colonies do not have an outfall,” said a senior DLF official.

HUDA administrator G. Anupama, however, said the development work is going on in full swing. “The work is in progress in phases and pipes are being laid in various areas. It’s a huge progress and we hope to complete it within a year,” said G. Anupama.

“You must agree that the population of Gurgaon has crossed over 10 lakh and there is lot of floating population as well. The pressure is humongous,” she added.