Civic Problems in Gurgaon

Private tankers dump the waste water in nearby areas, polluting the environment and posing health hazards.

The authorities responsible for the situation have turned a blind eye even as the tanker mafia is having a free run.

A 68- million- litres- a- day sewage treatment plant was constructed by the Haryana Urban Development Authority ( HUDA) near Dhanwapur at an approximate cost of Rs 11 crore.

MCG officials admitted that 90 per cent of Gurgaon's colonies were dependent on the tankers for the disposal of sewage water. " Most of the high- rises in Gurgaon have sewer lines but they are yet to be connected to the main plant.

Hence they use the tankers," Khullar said.

faizan.haider@mailtoday.in

Source: Mail Today By Faizan Haider Tankers add to Gurgaon sewage problem

The RWA of Sector 15-I has also written several letters to the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) in this regard.

"We wrote another letter to the HUDA Administrator, Deepti Umashankar, last month requesting her to find a permanent solution to the sewer problem," said Raja Ram, general secretary of the association.

The association has urged the HUDA Administrator to build a new sumpwell inside or near the colony in order to solve the problem of choked sewer lines. The sumpwell would solve problem of choked sewer forever.

The RWA members have suggested connecting the sewer line with the main Mehrauli sewer line, which is approximately 500m from where the sumpwell has been proposed. "The site where the sumpwell could be made comes is near the government girls college," said S. P. Ahuja, vice president of the RWA. He adds that the association has already met the college authorities in this regard.

Source: HT Live From Hindustan Times Overflowing sewer in Sector 15-I

Nikhil, the elder of the two kids, has his exam next month and studying till late night is a part of his routine. His younger sister's schedule, too, is the same.

"We do not get enough electricity supply to even charge our mobile phones. We hardly get 12 hours of supply a day," said their mother Asha Kakreja, who is now contemplating spending about Rs 50,000 to buy a domestic generator that runs on kerosene oil. Life for residents of New Gurgaon, which mainly comprise DLF residential buildings, Sushant Lok, South City and sectors 31, 40, 45, 46, has been thrown life out of gear because of unscheduled and frequent power cuts.

Asha Kukreja said she has started switching off lights of entire house, including the kitchen, to ensure that the inverter gets recharged. His husband, who runs an IT business in IMT Manesar, no longer works on his laptop at home.

The power cuts are all most parents have on their minds, as their children have to appear for their examination next month.

Source: Hindustan Times 12-hr power cuts in Gurgaon

In protest against these units, residents led a peaceful protest to the Deputy Commissioner's office. They called for immediate closure of such pollution-causing units. "We will not tolerate any more of this as we have been suffering for nearly a decade," said Dalal Chand Joon, a social worker who lives in Sector 10.

He added that apart from Sectors 10 and 10-A, several other areas and villages have been affected by the factory pollution. There are many units in the city operating in gross violation of the factory rules - causing air and water pollution.

What upsets the residents is that effluent disposal is being done in the open and the polluted smoke is being released mainly at night. "Do the pollution authorities ever think how this affects the common man," says Col (retired) Mohinder Singh, a Basai village resident.

Areas suchas Sectors 37 (Pace City,) 18, 53, 43, Maruti Complex, Sarhaul, Pataudi Road, Bhora Kalan, Bhondsi, Bajghera Road (near New Palam Vihar), Udyog Vihar-IV, Naurangpur, Mohammadpur, Nunera, MG Road, Khandsa and Hero Honda Chowk and many other villages are facing acute pollution problem.

UNHYGIENIC: This drain in DLF Phase-III is an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes

The spread of dengue continues unabated in the Millennium City. With 86 cases and three deaths reported so far this season, more and more questions are being asked about the pathetic infrastructure and poor sanitation conditions behind the outward glitz and shine.

On Friday, Gurgaon's malaria officer, Dr Krishan Kumar, confirmed that the upscale DLF city was among the worst-hit areas in Gurgaon.

``Though we have seen very few cases so far this year, we want a situation when there is no outbreak of the disease at all. People have shown more awareness and we have been asking HUDA and other civic agencies for speedy construction and proper maintenance of the drainage system. They have not paid any heed,'' he said.

The open field opposite U-Block in DLF City, Phase-III, where there is severe waterlogging in a large open trench is a typical example of the conditions that are helping mosquitoes breed. Residents and commuters have been complaining about the long stretch of stagnant water but no steps have been taken so far.

Source: Times Of India HUDA trench turns into dirty drain

Proper streetlighting, provision of clean drinking water and functional sewage treatment plants might still elude many of those living in urbanised Gurgaon, but may soon turn into reality for 34 villages around the Millennium City.

The Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon has engaged a private company to conduct a villagewise survey to gauge local needs.

The civic body has already ordered 140 high mast lights to be set up at the 34 villages. "The plan is to install two to six (as per requirement) high mast lights in these villages. These lights can illuminate a large area and are easier to maintain. The other benefit is that such lights offer minimum ground-level obstruction," a senior municipal official said.

The independent consultant will submit the survey report by October-end, after which villagewise planning will be carried out, the official added.

Also, the civic body plans to involve locals in the project by setting up citizen supervisory committees to oversee the work.

"We will make the final payment to the contractors only after these committees give us their approval on the work," the officer said.

The municipal body also plans to install sewage treatment plants at 11 villages to meet the requirement for the next 30 years.

Source: The Indian Express Gurgaon civic body plans streetlighting, potable water facilities for 34 villages

On Thursday and Friday hundreds of kids were forced to remain indoors as neither the school Transportation ror private vehicles could fetch the kids to school.  

Vechiles came to one of the worst standstill in the year on Friday as office goers reached Delhi after a five-hour sedentary trauma.

What surprises résidents the most is thaf there are "well-known points and spots'' which get in-
undated each time it drizzles and causes jams; how-ever, the administration can only provide lip serv-ice and do little else.

The main bus stand, though not for the first time, converted into a lagoon soon after it started raining on Wednesday evening. More than fifteen years have passed since the ramwater discharge system was put in place, but every time it rains,  it cornes to naught.

The Hero Honda crossing on Gurgaon-Delhi expressway is another jinxed spot where water caus-es blockage of traffic movement on National High-way No. 8.

Source: Metro Now 12/Sep/2009 By Yogesh

Basic infrastructure such as sewage, water, power, drainage, security, environment, roads, transport are in bad state in the city. And this has been causing much hue and cry in the recent past.
Now, the announcement of the development of two amusement parks in Sectors 29 and 52 by the government just before the assembly elections adds insult to injury as far as the already upset residents are concerned.

BETTER FACILITIES Even many government officials feel that the need of the hour is to upgrade these facilities, not the development of amusement parks.

Gurgaon residents allege that the government is not paying attention to the upgradation of these facilities. They say that development has not been up to the mark in the past two decades.

"The postal services are still pathetic. We made enormous efforts to get the services improved but to no avail. We are worried that we do not get a single letter from anywhere.

This has been a cause of immense resentment among the residents. We fail to understand how an amusement park becomes essential," said Indra Vikram Singh, a resident of Rosewood City.

MULTIPLE PROBLEMS

Source: Hindustan Times publicire - Slow road to development

Wing Commander (retired) S Vig. a resident of DLF City-II, points at a smelly pool of sewage near DLF Cyber City. Gurgaon has no proper outlets for sewage and stromwater

But more than a year since it came into existence, MCG has belied all hopes.

The Corporation has not taken up any new civic projects. It has also failed to get the other players, such as Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) and the private developers to fall in line.

BUMPY RIDE For the last six years, the staff of corporate houses located along Sahraul Road in Sector 18 has been running from one civic agency to another for getting this 2-km road repaired.

When MCG was formed, it was hoped that the road would be repaired soon.

However, nothing has moved on the ground.

Till April this year, none of the civic agencies -- HUDA, Haryana State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation (HSIIDC) or Public Works Department (PWD) -were ready to own responsibility.

HT had highlighted the poor state of this important road in April. The state's finance minister and other senior government functionaries had taken note of the problem at the time. It was decided to transfer the road to HUDA. Yet, nothing changed.

NONSTARTER MCG was formed by upgrading the then Municipal Council of Gurgaon, and increasing its jurisdiction from 16.7 sq km to 164 sq km, thus bringing private townships, HUDA sectors and 34 villages under its purview. The Panchayat system was dismantled through a notification and funds amounting to Rs 450 crore, meant for the panchayats, were handed over to MCG.

Source: Hindustan Times Who will fix this rot? Nobody knows

"We need only basic amenities, for which we have already paid in advance long back," says a resident. According to residents, there are surplus funds with concerned agencies and if they spend from the basic money paid by them then all problems can be solved.

"There has been no improvement in power supply situation. Cement mixing plants put up by builders in South City -2 are creating pollution. So many times we have complained about these issues but to no avail," says another resident.

Residents are especially concerned about safety on HUDA road connecting South City to Rosewood City and Uppal South End and South End Floors and also Sector 56 and Badshahpur-Sohna road. The connecting road of Rosewood City and South City is used by residents, kids, working ladies and senior citizens and there is no auto-rickshaw is available on this road.

The entire stretch is in a pathetic condition and it is even difficult for residents to commute. "Even cars go a dead slow because of the poor condition of the road. It is also dangerous to commute on this road, be it day or night because chain-snatching has become very common. Non-functional streetlights are also to blame for increasing crime in the area," says a resident.

Residents say they've been struggling with lack of power supply for the past one month when peak summer set in. ``We have been meeting with the local head of Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) and requesting him to address our woes, but there has been total inaction on the part of the officials. We are planning to go to Hisar this week to meet managing director of DHBVN to apprise him about our problems,'' said R S Rathi, president, Qutub Enclave RWA, DLF Phase I.

Another resident, B K Mehta, said that due to long outages even inverters were of no use. ``We spend most nights sleepless without fans and ACs and this has become a regular affair. There seems no respite,'' he complained.

DHBVN officials, however, maintained that the power supply has been considerably `sufficient'. ``Against a demand of about 1 crore 35 lakh units per day, we are supplying about 1 crore 10 lakh units of power on an average. This is not too bad,'' said V K Agarwal, executive engineer, DHBVN.

Source: Times Of India POWERLESS CITY

A series of stories by HT Live have already brought to the fore the pathetic condition of the city on all fronts.

The residents, represented by various welfare associations, have been demanding a body like the GDA for a long time now, but no headway has been made in the direction, as the political representatives have not managed to get the required support.

Ray of hope However, a ray of hope was visible recently when residents , in large numbers, headed by representative of residents' welfare associations put up the issue before sitting Member of Parliament (MP) Rao Inderjit Singh.

"The Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) has failed to keep pace with progress in a balanced way because of lack of experience and because of being overburdened with responsibilities," said R. S. Raghav, a resident.

Source: Hindustan Times Need for development agency

Ardee City is no more a posh colony
Gurgaon Plus in its issue dated January 14 printed an article that highlighted the plight of residents in absence of a shopping center, as well as an ATM in Ardee City, Sector 52. This is very true, and the authorities are in no way concerned about the pain that the residents have to bear.

The same article also mentioned that Ardee City is one of the posh colonies in Gurgaon. Well, I don't buy this statement. If you drive through the inner roads, you would come across the dilapidated conditions of the roads, the pavements, street lights and what not. It is just like any other colony of Old Gurgaon, and the basic infrastructure is at its nadir in the absence of proper maintenance.

The authorities are so callous in their outlook that they simply refuse to take ownership of some of the barren land within the premises. If one walks down the road opposite Ardee City's complaint office, stray animals (pigs, donkeys, dogs, cows) can be spotted feasting on garbage, stagnant water etc. This land shares a common boundary with the adjoining Wazirabad Village and the villagers do not miss any opportunity to direct their drains, garbage on this land, which is just across the road from C1 block. Numerous complaints have been lodged at the Ardee City complaint office.

Source: Gurgaon Plus Where do we go from here?

DLF-II, Anil Thakur

Where do we park?
Parking around Galleria shopping centre is a contrast of sorts. The road in between Galleria and the DLF Club is perhaps the only place in this country where cars are parked in the right lane. The left lane is already occupied with parked cars - at times there is barely one lane available for cycles, bikes, rickshaws and swish set Porsches and Ferraris of Gurgaon. What remains available for the passers by is really up to one's imagination.

I will like to know, why is this ignored by traffic police of the city? On the other hand, all vacant plots of land around Galleria have perhaps been taken over by the parking mafia who are charging for parking of every car parked there.

I am positive that this is not legal, however it is still operating with full knowledge of the local police and the administrative machinery.

Wonder, if there any law and order in Gurgaon or we could just act as per our will and convenience anytime of the day or night?

Sector 56, S Sharma

Source: Gurgaon Plus Still waiting for things to improve

The industrialists recently held a meeting and demanded immediate solution to the problem. They said if the authorities failed to resolve the issue, they would approach consumer court.

``We pay toll tax on the expressway so that we can get a smooth drive on the stretch. In reality, we have to drive through stinking drain water to enter the area,'' said J P Singh, director of an IT firm JPS Impex. ``In the factories and industrial establishments thousands of people work every day and they are forced to drive or walk through the sewer water. We are losing deals as foreign clients visiting our offices say that that the environment here is not good for business.''

Source: Times Of India Industrialists raise stink over waterlogged lane

Lop sided view comes forth as the residents of C-2 block, Palam Vihar express security concerns in the neighbourhood, while security agencies contradict by saying it is a safe place to live. GP delves deeper

On the face of it, if Palam Vihar has everything in place for residents to feel secure, people living in C 2 block are a distressed lot. Residents living in this part of Palam Vihar have been living under security threats for almost a year now. Despite repeated communication to concerned officials, residents say, nothing has been done to strengthen security in the area.

This block at one end of Palam Vihar has been allegedly attracting miscreants from the nearby unauthorised colonies and villages - who consider the area a perfect place for open air booze. Car-borne people have been seen by residents drinking openly and playing loud music in their cars just outside the main park of the colony in broad day light. Women and children fear coming out of their homes after sunset as unidentified outsiders often lurk around the colony.

Source: Gurgaon Plus On an uncomfortable edge

Even the above two do not serve one's purpose while travelling little after dusk. Under such circumstances, this creates a major problem if you don't have your own car and have to go home late in the night after working extra hours in the office. Imagine one's horror at being stranded in the middle of nowhere for the lack of autos or even rickshaw pullers. People get restricted in venturing out of their homes due to poor transport facility due to which even simple trips to the malls or nearby grocery stores need to be pre planned.

Another related aspect of transport issue is traffic jams. Most roads in Gurgaon get choked due to slow traffic movement, making it increasingly painful for commuters. There is no describing the frustration of those people who have to go through this misery everyday, travelling from Delhi to Gurgaon for work. One such commuter who works in a BPO in Gurgaon once proclaimed with a sad face, "It takes us a good 1 hour and 45 minutes everyday to travel to Gurgaon as most of the roads here are overloaded with traffic." This is perhaps also due to the fact that there is no well defined parking area besides the office buildings which adds to the traffic problem. One can easily spot the call centre cabs and other cars lined up beside the main road taking up a chunk of the road space meant for running vehicles.

Coming to security, we are witnessing more and more cases of armed robbery in the residential areas .This is despite the fact that most of the residential societies in Gurgaon have ample security staff. Such situations further point at the loopholes within and the fact that more needs to be done to ensure the safety of residents.

Close circuit television cameras and random stop-and-search procedures should be implemented at society gates to check incidents of robbery and plant a sense of fear among trespassers. It goes without saying that residents need to take strict measures in enforcing their own safety and be more alert so as to avoid any mishap. Here's hoping for a safe and hassle free Gurgaon in the coming year!

"This adds to the existing problems of dust, smoke and breeding of mosquitoes," said Dr B. Kalra, a resident of DLF-II.

Swampy Surroundings: Ardee city residents find this wastewater pool a health hazard

Since the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) has not developed a mas ter sewer, disposal of wastewater still remains a big threat. To ease this problem, disposal from several areas takes place in the open areas flouting all norms and putting human lives in danger.

There is massive waste waterlogging in a vast open area near N Block of DLF-II due to disposal by the HUDA. "We are living in hell. It is shocking how both the HUDA and the Pollution Control Board are silent over such a serious issue," said Madan Lal Yadav, a resident of DLF.

Sector 34 is a stinking example of the problem. Lying just off NH-8, the sector is home to titans like Hero Honda and Aegis BPO. Since many expat clients visit the area everyday, one ex- pects it to be maintained as a showcase of 21st Century India. But as the accompanying picture shows, this is certainly not the case. Health Hazard The problem goes beyond the stink from the discharge and the disgust that it arouses. People are falling ill due to water- and vector-borne diseases.

In the last few months, at least 82 staffers of Orient Craft have fallen ill with diseases like jaundice, said Dr Raj Dravid, Group President (Corporate HR & Training) of the company. "Production head Vikas Anand and General Manager Ashok Sharma are among those who reported ill," said Dravid.

The attendance at Aegis BPO, where sewage has entered the company premises, is also affected. Such is the condition of the city's sewerage that one of Aegis' cab drivers fell into an open manhole recently .

Dravid is also concerned about the contamination of ground water with overflowing sewage, as the company draws its potable water from the ground. "The area's image has taken a beating. Our foreign clients are shocked to see sewage all around," he said. Root Cause Gurgaon's sewage has no proper outlet. Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) is still struggling to complete the laying of trunk sewerage and drainage lines in Gurgaon. The work is getting delayed as Khandsa village is yet to commit land for the passage of a sewerage line.

Elsewhere, work on the city's Master Sewerage Trunk Line is held up at a site near Signature Tower due to a court stay. Official Line President of Gurgaon Industrial Association (GIA), VP Baja, said their representations to the local administration have fallen on deaf ears.

"Recently, we apprised Deputy Commissioner Deepti Umashankar of the sewage problem near the Hero Honda factory but she merely assured us of some action," said Baja.

HUDA officials, however, contend that the dirty water is not overflowing from the sewerage lines but from the choked storm water drainage, into which many units along NH-8 dump their sewage.

"Unfortunately, many units have linked their sewerage lines with the drainage system, which is already choked for want of an outlet. As a result, the sewage problem has now spread till the 42nd Milestone toll plaza on NH-8," said HUDA superintending engineer Pankaj Kumra.

Life in Shivaji Nagar at old Gurgaon is no more a pleasant experience, which it was till few years back. Developed in the 1970s, the neighbourhood had seen increasing population but not much infrastructural development to host the addition. No wonder, residents of the area complain of civic inadequacies that needs immediate attention. Sewer network in the colony is old and overflowing. Laid several years back, sewer lines are failing to support the increased population of the colony. As a result, the sewer lines are frequently blocked and the situation becomes worse even after the slightest shower. "Sewer waster enters into residents' house.

Plinth of several houses are below the sewer line and residents living in those houses are the worst sufferer, as dirty water easily enters into their house," says Hari Om Tyagi, a resident of Shivaji Nagar. Roads are also worn out at most places in Shivaji Nagar. "Look at the road condition in front of Block 4. It's like this for years and lately passing through this stretch has become really troublesome," says a neighbouring resident. When contacted, the local councillor Aruna Arora says, "Sometime back we gave proposal to the DC, Gurgaon to renovate sewer lines here. We need sewer lines of more than 9 inch diameter. I will raise the issue once again in front of the new commissioner of Corporation soon." However, drains here along all peripheral roads are constructed with new pipelines. Residents are happy that at least some development work is being done.