Gurugram stares at water shortage

Sumedha Sharma

Gurugram, May 17

Though dubbed as the Singapore of Haryana, the lack of basic infrastructure continues to be a problem in Gurugram. Residents are a harried lot as nearly 25 per cent of the city has been facing the problem of erratic and low-pressure water supply, reveals a Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) survey.

Though the city has enough water for meeting the total demand, equitable distribution of water remains the biggest challenge owing to factors such as unmetered connections, obsolete infrastructure and high population density in unauthorised areas.

According to the GMDA, the total potable water requirement in Gurugram stands at 640 million litres per day (MLD), which is being fulfilled from canals (570 MLD) and tubewells (70 MLD).

“At present, Gurugram does have enough water to meet its demand. We are working to solve the problem,” said Rajesh Bansal, Chief Engineer, GMDA.

With the onset of peak summer, reports of supply problems have already started trickling in from different parts of city such as Sector 17, Sector 37, Sector 22, South City 1, 2, DLF Phases 1 (Blocks D and E), 2 and 3, Palam Vihar, Sushant Lok, and new Gurugram.

“This is the story of every summer. The authorities concerned make temporary arrangements but the problem never gets resolved. People are forced to depend on water tankers for clean drinking water,” said Praveen Yadav, president, United Gurugram RWA.

According to officials, the crisis is the worst in builder-developed and MC-managed colonies owing to the non-declaration of optimum load. A senior MC official said the majority of builder colonies were built decades ago and took approval for a specific water requirement.