New Gurugram societies seek separate wards

Gurugram, September 10

Around 80 housing societies in New Gurugram, falling under the jurisdiction of the Municipal Corporation Gurugram, have objected to the latest ward delimitation draft and demanded separate wards for themselves.

The societies, which have been clubbed with villages of the area in many wards, have approached the Gurugram DC, highlighting how their civic needs and aspirations were different from those of village residents, as was the voter representation. The societies under the aegis of the United Association of New Gurugram (UANG) have claimed that with the current ward structure, these civic elections would have no relevance for them.

Fear poor representation

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• Residents insist that the services they get from the Municipal Corporation are different from those for villages.
• The needs of the societies are different from those of villages and thus their residents fear poor representation

“We are over 80 societies (from Sectors 76 to 115) with 70 per cent occupancy. This makes us technically eligible for separate wards. The current division of wards is detrimental to our civic needs and aspirations and will also affect the overall development of the area,” read the UANG representation. “We have in the past also been raising objections and now want to raise the same. The societies should be given different wards as our needs are different from those of the other areas clubbed with us.”

The representation highlighted that while the villages benefit from the Municipal Corporation management for water supply, sewerage, street maintenance, maintenance, solid waste management and garbage collection, their societies relied on the builders for the same. They had different priorities, which include pet registration, property ID camps and the maintenance of green belts and streetlights.

“With completely opposite relevance of the civic authority for both, the interests will clash and thus one will be ignored. Similarly, it is essential to underline that both villages and societies contribute through property taxes. While the villages enjoy a more comprehensive range of services, societies encounter unique challenges in managing certain critical aspects of daily life. The societies, for instance, are responsible for managing solid waste management (SWM) and septage disposal. In contrast, the villages are not subjected to similar challenges regarding waste management. This creates an uneven playing field, where the societies have to address these essential services on their own without the backing of the robust municipal support. We fear that without separate wards, the societies will continue to face unequal access to the facilities and become marginalised in terms of service provision,” it added.