City wants solution to civic woes

The fast depleting groundwater table, lack of road signages, poor sanitation, house tax, lack of safety and the shortage of electricity and water emerged as the main civic issues worrying residents.

The fast depleting groundwater table, lack of road signages, poor sanitation, house tax, lack of safety and the shortage of electricity and water emerged as the main civic issues worrying residents. During an interactive session organised by Hindustan Times on Saturday, several prominent residents of the city discussed the problems and sought solutions.

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“A few years ago, the water level in Gurgaon used to be 70-80 feet deep but now it is almost 400 feet deep. It is more difficult to pump water to high storeys,” said RS Rathee, president, Gurgaon Citizens’ Council.

Despite a ban on extraction of groundwater, the water table has gone down and the quality of water has also deteriorated.

According to SP Mahajan from Carlton Estate, “We get hard water due to lack of proper treatment measures. Water bills are also often fudged as the amount is not consistent with usage.”

Ahead of the peak summer season, residents are losing sleep over power shortage. “When Ardee City was built, a 4.53MW single post metre system was allotted but now there are 2,500 families living here and the requirement is 16MW. Thus, there is a major shortfall in the power supplied,” said TN Kaul, RWA president, Ardee City.

“We have been pursuing the MCG for naming major roads. We have placed proposals to the government but to no avail,” said KS Sandhu, secretary, Joint Action Forum of Residents’ Association (Jafra).

The lack of sanitation measures is another area of concern. Residents of Sector 14 complained that even the basic measures to ensure proper garbage disposal are not being taken by the agencies concerned.

The session served as a platform for residents to collectively identify their grievances and come up with measures for constructive action.