Residents of Ansal Esencia and neighbouring residential societies in Gurugram’s Sector 67 are concerned about their health due to the presence of a large pond of untreated sewage around the approach road. Residents said the site is a breeding ground for mosquitoes and is a “health crisis waiting to strike”.

The area around the site is home to condominiums such as Bestech Park View Spa Next, M3M Golf Estate, M3M Cosmopolitan, M3M Urbana, Emaar Marbella, Ireo Victory Valley and Ireo Uptown.

There are multiple reasons for the formation of this “sewage lake”, as residents call it. The society’s sewers, along with that of the neighbouring Ramgarh village, have not been connected to the government’s drainage system, which flows into the Badshahpur Nullah.

“As a result, our sewers get choked and suffer from perennial backflow. The situation becomes dire in monsoons,” said Esencia resident Bhawesh Swami.

Spot visits on Sunday and Monday by a Hindustan Times team revealed that the “sewage lake” is of a considerable size, a few hundred metres in length and width. A variety of birds can also be seen wading around and feeding in the cloudy, grey water.

“We joke that this is a mini Bharatpur,” said resident Gautam Wankhede, referring to the bird sanctuary in Rajasthan that was created artificially through discharge of treated sewage water. “However, this waste is purely untreated. You can tell from the smell and the look of it,” Wankhede added, crinkling his nose at the foul odour that perpetually lingers in the air.

Anand Sharma, a resident and a member of the residents’ welfare association(RWA), said the incomplete state of the colony’s drains was the builder’s responsibility. “As residents, we have paid all external development fees to the builder. So, it is really their responsibility to get the drains connected to the main network,” he added.

A representative of SMFL (the Ansal API subsidiary tasked with the colony’s maintenance), however, denied any malpractice. “We have a sewage treatment plant on site and are using the recycled water within the society for cleaning and horticulture purposes. Connecting the drainage system is a problem, but we have taken that up with the municipal corporation,” the representative said.

A representative of Ansal API declined to comment saying that the developer does not look into the day-to-day management, and that this was SMFL’S domain.

A visit to the on-site sewage treatment plant (STP) showed it was working fine. However, a worker on site said the society’s sewer lines, which run from under the “lake”, are leaking in several places.

Sharma and other RWA members also said that the STP was not enough to treat the total sewage waste of the colony.

Residents said this has been an issue for the last four years, but has never been as bad as it is today. In fact, as early as 2015, residents had approached the Union Ministry of Environment with their grievances. At the time, the ministry had directed the department of town and country planning (DTCP) to address the resident’s concerns, but over the years the, discharge of sewage has only grown and the area has come to resemble a lake.

“Recently we lodged another complaint with the chief minister’s office and they have acknowledged it, but we are still waiting to see on-ground action,” said Swarnjeet Sawhney, a resident in a neighbouring society.

A junior engineer in the MCG confirmed that he had been approached by residents and would visit the site this week to look into the matter.

DTCP officials could not contacted for comment on the matter despite repeated attempts.

First Published: Feb 05, 2019 14:48 IST