Rain dance parties to be banned this summer

This decision of the district administration is sure to be a spoilsport for those who love rain dance. Alarmed with the depleting groundwater level in the city, the administration is mulling a blanket ban on rain dance, which it considers is a waste of water.

This decision of the district administration is sure to be a spoilsport for those who love rain dance. Alarmed with the depleting groundwater level in the city, the administration is mulling a blanket ban on rain dance, which it considers is a waste of water.

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The city is already facing a water crisis.

“We are preparing an order to ban rain dance in Gurgaon. It will either be implemented through an office order or prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC,” deputy commissioner PC Meena told Hindustan Times on Monday.

He said that the order will remain valid for 60 days after which it will be reviewed to ensure that rain dance is fully banned here.

Recently, an NGO, We The People, had complained against organisers of a rain dance at a club in Nirvana Country, South City-2. This incident prompted the administration to act against wastage of water.

Founder trustee of the NGO and activist Vinita Singh, who lives in the same area, initially wrote to the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) on May 13 for a ban citing a provision of the Municipal Corporation Act.

The Act says that any willful or misuse of water would entail disconnection of water supply on that premises. Singh is also heading the MCG in the absence of its commissioner Ashok Sangwan, who has proceeded on a two-month leave starting April 28 to attend the IAS officers’ training.

“I later wrote to the Gurgaon deputy commissioner for a suitable order to discontinue rain dance in clubs, five-star hotels, farmhouses and other places. I am happy that some action is being taken in this regard,” Singh said.

According to the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA), the water level in the city is depleting by one metre every year. But independent experts claim it is depleting by around three metres yearly.