If the Millennium City continues to extract groundwater at the current pace, then the resource would be exhausted by 2017, the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) had cautioned in 2007.
However, the Haryana government ignored the warning and nonchalantly continued issuing licences to real estate companies which exploited the resource to the hilt. According to experts, Gurgaon has been drawing groundwater nine times more than it has replenished.
The callous attitude of the government has forced the Punjab and Haryana High Court to bar the state and its agencies from issuing fresh licences for any construction activity unless developers give an undertaking that groundwater will not be used for construction purposes in Gurgaon.
In the petition filed by the DLF Qutub Enclave Residents Welfare Association in the high court, the group claimed that the current groundwater extraction level was 900% more than the prescribed limit.
About 1,129 licences were issued to various small, medium and major real estate firms, including DLF, Ansals, Unitech, among others, till December 2011.
The very first licence was awarded to DLF Universals Limited on April 20, 1981 for floating DLF Qutub Enclave, now known as DLF City in Gurgaon. The Haryana Urban Develop-
{{/usCountry}}The very first licence was awarded to DLF Universals Limited on April 20, 1981 for floating DLF Qutub Enclave, now known as DLF City in Gurgaon. The Haryana Urban Develop-
{{/usCountry}}ment Authority (Huda), which is responsible for supplying water to the city, supplies 75 MGD of water against the current demand of 125 MGD. Gurgaon draws 15 MGD from borewells — most of them illegal.