Last-minute cleaning checks flooding in Gurgaon

The last minute scrambling of resources and a much delayed drive to clean drains and nullahs in Gurgaon have brought some relief to the city from its annual waterlogging blues.

The last-minute scrambling of resources and a much delayed drive to clean drains and nullahs in Gurgaon have brought some relief to the city from its annual waterlogging blues.

The panic that set in after the pre-monsoon showers earlier in July forced the civic agencies to desilt drains before the city got flooded. (Abhinav Saha/HT Photo)

While a lot more needs to be done, the drive, which was for the first time carried out jointly by the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG), Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) and other agencies, ensured that rainwater did not bring Gurgaon to a standstill.

Water still gets accumulated on roads but after the last-minute cleanup, it is not stagnating for days as in previous years.

The panic that set in after the first shower in the beginning of July also ensured that the master drains of the Huda at Bajghera and Dharampur were cleaned for the first time in three decades. These drains, forgotten by the civic agencies, were also cleaned upstream using five super sucker machines.

“We have cleaned the master drains and desilted the network so that water can flow with ease. The pre-monsoon jam helped us in identifying the problem areas and we took immediate action,” Huda administrator Yashpal Yadav said.

Several drains within sectors were also cleaned to ensure that water is carried without blockades.

The Huda carried out channelisation, cleaning, and desilting on the main Badshahpur drain too. Executive engineer Shweta Sharma said that cleaning the kuccha drain along the southern peripheral road and Khandsa drain have certainly helped in draining away more water.

The MCG, which is now in the process of taking over Huda sectors, also got its act together and pressed its men and machinery into action. It cleaned the entry ducts of water on most Gurgaon roads that were waterlogged after the slightest of showers. “This is not something very big, but it has at least ensured that water enters the drains. It is after several years that cleanup happened,” Bhawani Shanker Tripathy of Sector 23 A, said.

MCG acting commissioner TL Satyaprakash said that apart from routine measures, the MCG also laid a large pipeline to divert water that flooded Hero Honda Chowk to Badshahpur drain. “We ensured that drains more than three-foot wide were desilted and more pumps installed. More importantly, the agencies in Gurgaon worked together,” he said.

Perhaps, this improvement in situation is an indicator that a single development authority like Gurgaon Development Authority could improve the delivery of civic and administrative service.

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