Taking note of the experts’ concerns over the possibility of flooding in the city due to several blocked drains, the forest department has begun a mammoth exercise of marking natural drains and man-made bunds as notified by the Haryana government some four decades ago.
According to the disaster management experts and irrigation department officials, Gurgaon can be flooded in case of heavy rains. The city has a total of four creeks and three main natural drains, which have been filled due to large-scale construction activities in the past few years.
Natural drains like Nathupur and Ghata and man-made bunds like Jharsa, Chakarpur, Ghata, and Wazirabad have been encroached at several places due to construction activities.
“Several big developers have encroached some land, which in no case can be used for non-forest activities,” said a forest official, adding that these land sharks can hamper the demarcation process.
In 2010, construction activities in sectors 58, 65 and 62 near the Southern Periphery Road had come to a halt due to submergence. Areas including part of Sushant Lok 2 and 3, Surya Vihar, Sector-56 and DLF Phase 3 are built on natural drains. The IMT Manesar Road witnessed four feet deep water clogging during the monsoon of 2009.
According to sources, Gurgaon’s deputy commissioner (DC) has asked the forest department to start the demarcation process at the earliest.
{{/usCountry}}According to sources, Gurgaon’s deputy commissioner (DC) has asked the forest department to start the demarcation process at the earliest.
{{/usCountry}}However, the forest department may have to depend on the district revenue department for land records, which might have been altered in order to benefit some influential land grabbers.
“In the original documents of revenue department, accurate measurements of each piece of land and the land-owning agencies are preserved,” said a senior forest official.
The forest and revenue departments have been at logger heads for the past several years over the
demarcation issues, which have been continuously reported by HT.
“We have received a letter from the DC office asking for initiating the demarcation process. We hope this would start very shortly,” said Pankaj Goyal, forest conservator.