Gurugram sectors 71-98 to get canal water from March next year

Officials confirmed that the GMDA will now be able to lay a pipeline to connect the internal water pipeline network of these sectors with the Chandu Budhera water treatment plant (WTP).

Residents of the newly developed sectors of Gurugram (sectors 71 to 98), who are primarily dependent on groundwater supply by private tankers, will start getting supply of treated canal water from the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) by March 2020, officials familiar with the matter said.

Residents of the newly developed sectors of Gurugram (sectors 71 to 98), who are primarily dependent on groundwater supply by private tankers, will start getting supply of treated canal water from the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) by March 2020 (HT Photo (Representative Image))

They added that this was made possible due to the construction of a culvert by the Indian Railways under the railway track near the Basai rail overbridge that was needed to lay the GMDA water pipeline.

Officials confirmed that the GMDA will now be able to lay a pipeline to connect the internal water pipeline network of these sectors with the Chandu Budhera water treatment plant (WTP).

Presently, the Delhi-Gurgaon-Rewari railway line separates the newly developed sectors from the Chandu Budhera water treatment plant. Although the GMDA has water pipeline networks on both sides of the track that were laid almost a year back but in the absence of proper connectivity from under the railway track, supplying treated canal water remained a challenge for so long.

Mohit Leela, deputy chief engineer, Land – Indian Railways, Gurgaon division, said, “We have completed the construction of the box or the culvert under the Delhi-Rewari Railway track near Basai railway overbridge two days ago. Now it can be used by the GMDA to lay water the water pipeline.”

In the absence of treated canal water supplied by the GMDA, the residents of these societies are dependent on water either from the commercial tanker suppliers or from the bore-wells of the area. Residents say that the absence of treated canal water is a source of constant harassment for them, especially for those who have recently shifted to these newly developed societies.

According to a GMDA official familiar with the matter, nearly 1.5 lakh people live in the residential societies of these sectors. There are about 80-90 residential projects in the area, of which about 65 to 70 per cent is occupied. These projects include CHD Avenue, Sector 72; Bestech Park View, Sector 81; DLF Ultima, Sector 81, Vatika India Next, Sector 82; Mapsko Royal Ville, Sector 82; Emaar Palm Garden, Sector 83, Raheja Navodaya, Sector 92 and DLF New Town Heights, Sector 91.

Rajesh Bansal, superintending engineer, GMDA, said, “All the new sectors, 58-115, developed along the southern and the northern peripheral roads (SPR and NPR) are supposed to get canal water supply from Chandu Budhera WTP. However, we are only able to supply water only to sectors 58 to 70 from the Chandu Budhera WTP temporarily through the Sector 51 boosting station. Now, the construction of railway culvert has resolved our problem. All the new sectors will now get water directly from the Chandu Budhera plant through the Sector 72 boosting station.”

“We wish we get GMDA canal water at the earliest. We blame the government for having failed to ensure canal water access to our society and others timely. We are getting hard groundwater for the past four years,” said Nitin Grover, a resident of New Town Heights.

The Haryana town and country planning department granted licences to builders to develop these sectors from 2009-10 onwards.

The developers allege that although they paid external and internal development charges as per the licence conditions to Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran(HSVP), the latter failed to develop water and sewer infrastructure in these sectors over the years.

The HSVP, in January 2017, transferred all the master services of water and sewer to the GMDA.