Infrastructure hurdles spark water crisis fears in Sector 23A

Gurgaon: Residents of Sector 23A are worried about an impending water crisis this summer. With demand at its peak, residents have complained that the existing water supply infrastructure is unable to meet their water demands.
The sector is home to about 8,500 residents, of which 1,500 live in the EWS colony in the sector. “The existing booster tank (for storage of canal water) is fulfilling only 60-70% of our water requirement. The three tubewells that were installed in the sector to supplement canal water supply have become useless as groundwater levels have receded,” said Bhawani Shankar Tripathy, general secretary of the sector’s RWA.
Tripathy added two of the three tubewells have gone defunct, and only one is operational at present. “While one tubewell ran dry due to a dip in groundwater levels, power supply to the other one was disconnected by DHVBN around 2-3 months ago as MCG, which supplies water in the area, failed to pay the power bill,” he said.
DHBVN and MCG officials, however, told TOI that no such issue had come to their knowledge.“As far as I can recall, the power department did not disconnect power supply. The tubewell might not be functional due to some technical failure. We take up the issue of non-payment of bills with the department concerned and try to avoid such actions,” said DHBVN sub-divisional officer Satpal Singh, who is in charge of Maruti sub-division, under which the sector falls.
On the disconnection of the tubewell, MCG commissioner Yashpal Yadav said, “I haven’t come across anything like that. In case it has happened, it’s very unfortunate. We’ll look into it soon.”
Meanwhile, Sector 23A residents also raised concerns about inconsistent and uneven water supply. Houses close to the boosting station manage to get some water, but those at a significant distance fail to get water supply for days on end, they said. Residents have demanded enhancement of the capacity of booster pumps, revival of the defunct tubewells, installation of a new underground water tank, and a separate tubewell for the EWS colony.
MCG said water supply is one of their priorities. “A few pockets in the sector are on elevated terrain, and hence they face problems. These areas were taken over by us about one and a half year ago. We are carrying out a survey and will lay down a water canal network to address the water shortage problem across the city. It is in on our priority list,” MCG commisioner Yadav said.