Gurgaon: DLF-3 residents reel under water crisis as canal damage hits supply

Residents of DLF-3 were hit by a water crisis over the last three days, as supply from the Basai treatment plant by the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) was disrupted.

Residents of blocks T, U and W, which are situated at a higher altitude, were forced to purchase water from private tanker operators as supply from the Basai plant came down to a trickle.

Joginder Singh Yadav, president, residents’ welfare association (RWA), DLF-3, said, “We didn’t get a single drop of water over the last three days, as the Gurgaon Water Supply Canal (GWSC) was damaged and supply from the Basai plant was affected. We reeled under acute supply crisis from Sunday to Tuesday. While we got some water (from the Basai plant) on Wednesday, the supply wasn’t enough to meet our household needs. We still had to purchase water from private tankers.”

It was alleged that on Saturday night, some locals carved out a channel from the canal near Molakhera village, some 15 km from the Basai plant, to water crops and it disrupted supply from the Basai plant.

“On Tuesday, Sandeep Dahiya, our executive engineer, visited DLF-2 following our request and assured residents that normal water supply would be restored by Wednesday. Our underground tanks ran out of water in the last three days and we were worried, as residents called in and asked us to restore normal supply,” a senior of executive of DLF Limited, the developer, said.

However, he added that it will take another 30-40 hours for normal supply to be restored.

After the Basai plant was affected, the GMDA engineers sent word to the RWAs asking them to brace for a supply crisis. A team of engineers from the GMDA and the state irrigation department inspected the site and repaired the canal on Sunday. However, the officials ran into protests from locals who demanded that some water from the canal be channelled for irrigation purpose.

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Sandeep Dahiya, executive engineer, GMDA, said, “We supplied adequate water to DLF-2 on Wednesday. There was a temporary disruption in supply due to the damage to the canal. We are not at fault. We are in the process of restoring normal supply, but it will take some time. Whenever the supply is disrupted for over 24 hours, it takes another 30-40 hours for normality to be restored and the supply to resume in areas such as block T of DLF-3, which is located at a higher altitude.”

However, the residents fear the supply crisis getting progressively worse in summer.

“Between March and April every year, issues such as canal damage and rupture in water pipelines crop up. Although the onus of water supply shifted from the Huda (Haryana Urban Development Authority) to the GMDA on January 2018, little seems to have changed on the ground. The damage to the Molakhera canal has already crippled supply in DLF-2 and one wonders if there’s much worse in store as summer peaks,” RS Rathee, president, RWA, Qutub Enclave, in DLF-1 and a sitting councillor from Ward 34.