Having facilities of rainwater harvesting and water treatment, an eco-chic habitat opens door in the Capital's suburb. Cruise down Gurgaon's sector 18 on the old Delhi-Jaipur highway, and a marvelous 16-floor beige outfit with elegant brick patterns stands proud of its dusty neighbours. Walk into its 10 acre expanse and you realise it is more than an illustrious address for the well-heeled.

The 240 residential flats and villas of GurgaonOne, developed by Alpha G:Corp, come not only with an environment clearance from the National Environment Policy but the premises also boasts of facilities like energy conservation systems and waste management. "With ever increasing concern for our footprints on the environment, such habitats will soon become a norm rather than an exception," says Col(retd) RS `Pickles' Sodhi, managing director of Alpha G:Corp.

A 300 KLD sewage treatment plant has been installed two levels below the ground floor to treat the waste. The water filtered by this plant will be used for the 2 acres of green patch that envelopes the premise. The remaining sludge, compressed into cakes, will be used for manuring.

A stroll across the premise and you spot six 3-metre deep pits that are designed in the reverse mode of bore-wells to allow rainwater to seep into the ground. "We have incorporated simple and sustainable measures to make GurgaonOne eco-friendly. During the construction of this complex, we even relocated some of the neem trees standing here. It took us three months and 15 men to transport them," says Ashish Sarin, CFO of Alpha G:Corp.

The second basement is fitted with a 1,80,000-litre water softening plant. "Water impurities in Gurgaon are reaching alarming levels, the plant will considerably reduce the hardness of water," adds Sarin.