Poor amenities take sheen off industry hub

Crippled by civic issues like overflow of sewage, dilapidated roads, parking woes, non-functional streetlights and other maintenance issues, Infocity — the region’s only gated industrial township — is in dire straits.

Crippled by civic issues like overflow of sewage, dilapidated roads, parking woes, non-functional streetlights and other maintenance issues, Infocity — the region’s only gated industrial township — is in dire straits.

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The township, located near the Hero Honda plant, a few metres off the Gurgaon Expressway, houses around 90 plots.

The ambitious model

township was floated in 2001 as free hold plots by the Gurgaon Technology Park Limited (GTPL) — a joint venture of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) and private developers, Unitech and Singapore Consortium — as an Information Technology (IT) hub.

The future of Infocity is in doldrums ever since the Haryana Urban Development Authority took over it and

private developers moved out in 2009, alleged area industrialists. Though problems were always present, they have

worsened over the months as initially Huda couldn’t decide under which division the area fell and which executive

engineer of the development authority would take care of the issues.

“We are being forced to spend lakhs of rupees despite paying maintenance charges to the GTPL,” he added.

Things turn for the worse during monsoon, when the area is inundated in knee-deep stench-emitting water, which spills over from the Badshahpur drain behind Infocity Phase-1.

“The water enters the basement of the offices here,”

said Parmeshwari Devi, an old-timer who runs a kiosk in the township.

A couple of pumps that the authorities use to drain out water have proved insufficient, besides no measures have been taken to check the level of the approach road, which is higher than the township.

“The water flows down the internal lanes,” said Anil Gadora, general secretary, Infocity Occupants Association.

The condition of streetlights, parks and parking lots is no better.

“We are already in the process of working out a development blueprint for the township. We will soon address smaller issues like maintenance of roads and parks,” said Praveen Kumar, Huda administrator and ex-officio CEO of the Gurgaon Technology Park Limited.

“Give me two months’ time and you will see tangible changes,” the Huda administrator added while pointing that funding will not be an issue.