Gurgaon pipeline leak: Sectors 21, 22, 23 left high and dry for three days

Huda said water supply to these three sectors will be suspended to carry out repair work on the leak

Already reeling under a water shortage for the past two days due to a pipeline burst, residents of sectors 21, 22, 23 and 23-A have more bad news in store.

The master water line was damaged again during digging work for flyover construction at Iffco Chowk on Wednesday. This will affect supply to Sushant Lok1, DLF and Essel Towers. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

The Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) said on Wednesday that supply to these sectors will be suspended on Thursday to carry out repair work on the leak that developed in the newly laid water pipeline.

Meanwhile, the master water line was damaged again during digging work for flyover construction at Iffco Chowk on Wednesday and this is likely to affect supply to Sushant Lok1, DLF and Essel Towers.

The leak in the pipeline near Palam Vihar appeared on Tuesday and irate residents, who have been without water for three days, met Huda administrator Yashpal Yadav on Wednesday and appealed to him to take urgent steps to restore supply.

“We met the Huda administrator as we did not receive a single drop of water for the past three days. We have not received any information about the suspension of supply on Thursday. But that hardly matters to us since we are already without water,” said Malkhan Singh, president of residents’ welfare association (RWA), Sector 23-A.

SS Yadav, president of Sector 23 RWA, said, “It is highly surprising that Huda’s newly laid water pipeline developed leakage. It is sad that the department is not serious about basic amenities. We are suffering from a water crisis and the Huda and MCG officials are shifting the blame to each other.”

While commissioning the new pipeline on April 10, Huda officials said it was meant to augment supply by 15-20 MGD (million gallons per day) to these areas. Besides sectors 21 to 23, Rajiv Nagar, Laxmi Garden, Model Town, New Colony, Palam Vihar, Ashok Vihar Phase 1 and 2 and Sheetla Colony are also dependent on the new pipeline.

“I have directed the engineers to repair the leakage immediately. But for that,supply will remain suspended on Thursday. I have also directed engineers to ensure that the supply from Huda’s Basai plant to underground reservoirs in these sectors remains uninterrupted,” the Huda administrator said.

The Huda pipelines have been developing leakages or getting damaged several times in the past three months, the latest one being the fifth such incident.

In February, the pipeline was damaged twice near Sector 17C. In April too, it was damaged twice — near Signature Tower and Rajiv Chowk — during the digging work by highways authority appointed contractor for carrying out work on underpasses.