Left with no option, residents dig deep into groundwater resource

The inordinate delay in the operationalisation of NCR Water Canal is putting increasing pressure on the city's groundwater level.

The inordinate delay in the operationalisation of NCR Water Canal is putting increasing pressure on the city's groundwater level.

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The city's current water demand is nearly 100 MGD. However, the Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) is able to supply only 60 MGD from its sole water treatment plant at Basai. The rest is being illegally extracted from the ground.

According to surveys, the groundwater level in Gurgaon is depleting by one metre every year despite the contradictory versions of the administration in recent past. The reason for the depletion is the ever increasing gap between the demand and supply of water.

The issue has been raised in several high-level meetings of the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA). The CGWA has even declared Gurgaon a notified zone.

Huda claims it will meet the water requirement of the city through its two dedicated canals - Gurgaon Water Supply Channel and the still unopened NCR canal.

"The treatment plant at Chandu Budhera, which is of 110 MGD capacity, is under construction and is likely to become operational from July 2012," said Huda chief engineer Pankaj Kumra.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked the CGWA to file a comprehensive report on preserving and regulating groundwater used for drinking, household activities and construction purposes. The court direction came in the wake of various PILs in 2008-09. The petitioners brought to the court's notice illegal wells in city being operated by developers.

According to reports, the city's population will touch 3.7 million in 2021 and the water need would be as high as 666 million litre per day. The NCR Water Canal can supply as much as 400 MGD.