Gurgaon: Flooding mess signals rough monsoon ahead

GURGAON: If Sunday's showers were a trailer, the Millennium City could be in for another rough monsoon, trapped in a cycle of waterlogging and infrastructural failures, whose solutions are well known but never enacted on the ground.

A sudden bout of rainfall over 45 minutes on Sunday flooded several areas in the city. Among the worst affected were Palam Vihar, Sector 23A and DLF-3. Residents of all three areas have a common grudge - an urgent need to upgrade the existing drainage network in a city whose natural water channels have been destroyed by rampant construction and poor urban planning.
Till Monday, streets in Sector 23A and Palam Vihar were covered with sludge and muck. Residents were busy cleaning their driveways of muddy water as the stench of sewage hung in the air. Inhabitants of DLF-3 said the colony was under 3-feet-deep water after heavy rains on Sunday.
"No one is keen to resolve the problem of waterlogging despite our repeated pleas. With weather being this unpredictable, flooding is more common than ever and bad planning aggravates our problem. With an inadequate drainage network, rainwater enters our houses and sewage spills onto the roads," said Sanjeev Chandhoke, who lives in DLF-3.
Residents of Palam Vihar and Sector 23A on Monday blamed Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) for poor planning of work to widen the Leg-1 stormwater drain.
One of the key water channels, Leg-1 starts from Sikanderpur and clears into Najafgarh drain after crossing Sector 23A and Rezang La Chowk in Palam Vihar. In February this year, GMDA started work to widen the drain, but for the construction to go on, a temporary water barrier was made near Sector 23. Water that would have normally flowed into Leg-1 was also redirected to the sewage drain.
Residents alleged that the unexpected rainfall this month increased the load on the sewage drains, causing them to overflow in Sector 23A and Palam Vihar.
Anil Gupta, RWA executive member of Sector 23A (North Zone), told TOI residents have been cleaning the mess since the spate of showers last weekend.
"While there is hardly any desilting of master stormwater drain and master sewer lines for the past many years, unplanned and poorly executed work by GMDA to widen Leg-1 drain is adding to our woes. They have put the temporary barrier in the drain and connected it with the sewer line. As the quantum of water from Sikanderpur reaches here, all manholes start overflowing, and wastewater enters our houses and basements," Gupta said.
Rajesh Khanna, another resident of Sector 23A, said his basement was filled with sewage. "Every time it rains, my house gets flooded. Internals drains are non-existing, and the master drain is not cleaned regularly," he said.
Complaints in Palam Vihar were similar.
"Wastewater was spilled in all colonies from Sector 23 A to Palam Vihar near A block. While civic authorities spend crores in developing drains, what is the use if they aren't being cleaned regularly. Other drains in the vicinity are also clogged," said Lajpat Gupta, who lives in Palam Vihar.
When asked, GMDA officials denied that the maintenance of the drainage network was inadequate and that the widening work led to chaos in residential colonies.
"The self-cleaning velocity of Leg-1 drain near Rezang La Chowk is more than adequate. There is no major silt problem in leg-1, though there are issues like dumping of waste, debris and breaking of slab cover that can sometimes affect the flow of water. On Sunday, the drain's slab cover near Rezang La Chowk had caved in, and that obstructed the flow. We have now cleared it," a GMDA official said. On monsoon preparedness, the official said authorities are trying to complete the Leg-1 widening work ahead of the rainy season. "This should help ease the waterlogging issue in Old Gurgaon," he added.