GMDA to lay 8.5km pipeline to supply recycled water for reviving lake, city forest

The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) has approved a proposal for laying an 8.5km long water pipeline between Sectors 75 and 79-A near Gairatpur

The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) has approved a proposal for laying an 8.5km long water pipeline between Sectors 75 and 79-A near Gairatpur Bas and Sakatpur villages, where the forest department has proposed to restore a 25-acre water body and almost 800 acres of native Aravalli habitat.

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The GMDA had been roped in by the forest department to provide recycled water from a sewage treatment plant (STP) in Behrampur as there are no ready sources of water available for the eco-restoration project.

The proposal, which was first floated by the forest department a little less than a year ago, is expected to be implemented after April, department officials said. “Plantation and restoration works will begin later this year, during the monsoon season. Before that, the GMDA will have to finish laying the pipeline so water is available for recharging the groundwater table and for horticulture,” Gurugram district forest officer Jai Kumar said.

Though GMDA chief engineer Lalit Arora did not provide a time frame for completion of the task, he said, “The work will begin any day now as the DPR has been approved by the Haryana government and in GMDA’s meeting last month.” The initial deadline has been set for March 2020.

As per the agreement between the forest department and the GMDA, the latter will provide between 5MLD and 10 MLD of tertiary-treated waste water to the area, most of which will be pumped into a natural depression in Gairatpur Bas. “The filling of the lake, which has an area of about 25 acres and depth of three metres, should take three-and-a-half months with 10 hours pumping daily,” Arora said, adding that the natural topography of the area is such that the GMDA does not have to spend a large sum of money to supply water there.

The total budget for the work is estimated to be ₹4.33 crore.

LEGAL TANGLE

The project, however, has run into a legal hurdle. The villagers are challenging the transfer of land to the forest department.

The forest department, in August last year, had been instructed by the principal chief conservator of forests (Haryana), to carry out a plantation drive in Sakatpur, “on a big scale involving the staff of forest department, other related departments, NGOs, and educational institutions.”

This was after 200 acres of Aravalli land was handed over to the forest department on July 23 via a resolution of the Sakatpur gram panchayat (a copy of which is with HT). Locals, however, said this transfer of land contradicts previous orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which instructed that a status quo be maintained with regard to the land’s ownership and use.

Villagers had approached the high court in October last year, following which notices were issued to the Sakatpur gram panchayat, the deputy commissioner, the district development and panchayat officer (DDPO), and to the Haryana chief secretary, on October 23, and a stay proposed on any non-forestry activities.

The respondents have been asked to be present in the high court on April 7, 2020, when the court will hear the matter next.

While forest department officials declined to comment on the same as the matter is sub-judice, one official in the know of the matter said, requesting anonymity, that forestry activities would not pose a legal hassle as the land, being Aravallis, is a deemed forest and any forestry work would not violate the high court’s instructions to maintain status quo on ownership. “The legality of the land transfer will need to be decided by the court,” the official said.