Gurugram municipal corporation plans ₹100cr leisure hub along Badshahpur drain

Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) officials said that the new venture will be developed with funds obtained through corporate social responsibility (CSR).

A non-private, multipurpose recreation hub is on the cards for Gurugram as the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has given its consent for development of an approximately 5km-long and 70 metrewide stretch along the Badshahpur drain as a leisure and entertainment space.

A view of Badshahpur drain adjacent to which the leisure hub is expected to be constructed. Environmentalists from Gwal Pahari have sent legal notices to the MCG and Huda to stop the concretisation work of Badshahpur drain. (Parveen Kumar/HT)

According to the decision taken in a meeting held last week, the promenade-inspired area will be located between sectors 48, 72 and 34, adjacent to the main Badshahpur drain, with its extremes being defined as areas close to Tatvam Villas on Sohna Road and the MCG Office in Sector 34.

MCG officials said that the new venture will be developed with funds obtained through corporate social responsibility (CSR). Asked if entry to the area would be free or paid, MCG officials said the decision would depend on the funds they receive.

“A meeting to discuss development of the area around the Badshahpur drain was held on June 21. The drain will not be concretised in any manner, and the hub will only be developed around it. It was decided that through CSR venture, the area would be developed as an entertainment and leisure hub. Companies have been invited to submit their bids,” MCG commissioner Yashpal Yadav said.

On June 25, the Haryana urban development authority (Huda) and the MCG were served a legal notice, which cautioned them against the ongoing work to concretise Badshahpur drain in Khandsa village.

The urban local bodies were acting in violation of a 2017 order by the National Green Tribunal, which prohibits concretising of stormwater drains in Gurugram.

Yadav did not give a timeline for the work on the project to begin, but MCG officials said they anticipate construction to start by October this year.

According to officials, MCG intends to construct facilities such as cycling, walking and jogging tracks, basketball and lawn tennis courts, open-air gymnasiums, sitting area, food courts, green belts, open-air theatres, small ponds, and parks.

“Gurugram has few spaces dedicated for recreation. The bio-diversity park is one such place, but since it is located closer to the New Delhi border, it is not very easily accessible to all residents. Hence, we conceptualised creating a new hub in a centrally located part of the city,” Yadav said.

According to MCG officials, people’s convenience is being considered in multiple ways. For example, after a gap of 1km, a miniature sewage treatment plant (STP) will be placed to treat the drain water and eliminate its stench so that visitors are not discouraged from venturing here.

Similarly, MCG also plans to build a parking space, similar to the one at Sukhna Lake in Chandigarh, outside the hub. The project is expected to cost more than ₹100 crore, officials said.

Yadav said that the meeting was conducted to draw a map of the entertainment hub on the basis of which private companies would be invited to submit their bids.

While the overall width of the strip would be 700 metres, the MCG has not decided on the specific space it plans to allot each functional area.

A copy of the initial layout (see box) shows that the hub is divided into five parts which lie parallel to each other.

The recreation hub would start barely 10 feet away from the main drain, but would be buffered by a green belt, starting with trees and plants which would make way for open parks with benches.

Food courts, basketball and lawn tennis courts, open-air gymnasiums, sitting areas, open-air theatres, small ponds and fountains have been planned along the extreme right.

The three lanes in the centre, as the map indicates, will be have a cycle track, a walkway and a jogging track.