Rainwater floods Gurugram’s Essel Tower, residents irked

Due to extensive waterlogging, residents of Gurugram’s Essel Tower are forced to park their vehicles on the service lane or MG Road during the rainy season.

There seems to be no end to the miseries of Essel Tower residents on MG Road, who are bearing the brunt of waterlogging this monsoon. The water harvesting pits are lying defunct since 2002 and need to be reconstructed. However, the cost of fixing the rainwater harvesting pits has been pegged at ₹20 lakh, which, the residents say, they have to pay from their own pockets despite paying for maintenance regularly.

Due to waterlogging, residents said they are forced to park their vehicles on the service lane or MG Road. (Parveen Kumar/HT File)

Due to extensive waterlogging, residents are forced to park their vehicles on the service lane or MG Road during the rainy season.

The residents alleged that the problem is due to the faulty design and the entire complex has been built in a low-lying area, which is much below the level of roads in the outer area.

The levels of the outer roads have gone up due to re-carpeting, resulting in rainwater gushing through the main entry gate of the complex and flooding the basements.

“Waterlogging in our complex has become a perpetual problem. Neither has the builder given any thought to finding a permanent solution to the problem, nor does the city administration has anything to offer. Our daily routines and chores are disrupted in the event of a downpour. I shudder to think what will happen should there be a medical emergency here,” Kamal Kumar Panday, president, residents’ welfare association (RWA), Essel Tower, said.

Even after complaining to the developer for more than six years about sewage backflow to the residential complex, residents said they are yet to be rid of the problem.

The RWA members alleged that every year, the fear of driving through knee-deep water weighs heavily on the resident’s minds.

“The waterlogging problem gets bigger as our complex is low lying and rainwater gushes in from MG Road as well as Sushant Lok. Overflowing sewers are a cause for concern, as they pose a health risk. Although we use pumps to drain out rainwater, it comes back and floods our complex, as the sewer lines are overflowing. We are struggling to find a permanent solution to this problem,” Rajeev Sinha, former president, RWA, said.

“Once the rain stops and the sewer lines are not overflowing with water from the Mall Mile, we start to pump the water out. It takes a minimum of three hours to clear the water and another three to four days to clear the muck from the complex. There seems to be no solution in sight till we have a proper system in place to dispose of sewage water,” Sinha said.

Residents said the only solution, for now, is to pump out rainwater. They said there are two reasons which aggravate the situation. Firstly, the sewer lines are not cleaned regularly, thereby reducing their capacity to discharge rainwater. Secondly, the stormwater drains at MG road are defunct because of which water from the stretch floods the complex.

An official of Essel Housing Private Ltd, who asked not to be named, said, “The complex was constructed 14 years ago and they are trying to resolve the issue.”