GMDA committee to submit report on floods within a week
The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) on Friday constituted a seven-member expert committee to probe what caused the flooding at numerous spots in Gurugram, including Golf Course Road on Wednesday and Thursday.
Named the Flood Protection Committee, the expert group is tasked with ‘submitting a report regarding flooding caused in various parts of Gurugram city due to excessive rains on August 19 and 20.’
GMDA said the committee will comprise engineers from the GMDA, the municipal corporation gurugram (MCG), and a representative of private developer DLF. Their report is expected to be filed within the next seven days.
A copy of the authority’s order, dated August 21, is with HT. As per the order, “The flood protection committee will examine the causes of flooding specially in the underpasses at Golf Course Road, Medanta road at Rajeev Chowk and IFFCO Chowk which were submerged with stormwater rendering them unusable for normal traffic and to suggest short and long term solutions... to prevent this from happening in the future.”
The order states that the committee will be chaired by former Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) engineer-in-chief, KK Bhugra, who played a key role in formulating a ‘comprehensive drainage plan’ for Gurugram, which was approved in the GMDA’s authority meeting in May last year, but whose implementation has since been delayed.
The remaining members of the FPC include Pradeep Kumar (chief engineer, infrastructure-2, GMDA), Rajesh Bansal (superintending engineer, infrastructure2, GMDA), Raman Sharma (chief engineer, MCG), Vishal Garg (executive engineer, MCG) and an unnamed representative of private developer DLF.
VS Kundu, chief executive officer, GMDA, said, “I will have a meeting with the committee within the next week, after which they will conduct necessary investigations and submit their report, which will identify the cause of the floods and suggest measures to mitigate such an event in the future.”
DLF spokesperson, Akash Ohri, said he had not yet received a copy of the GMDA’s order, but added, “It’s the right step to form a committee to investigate. Every department should do their bit to fix the issue.”