Gurgaon boasts of being the Millenium City. What earned this sobriquet could be the offices of several multinationals, IT companies, and grand edifices and Malls which are touted not as shopping places but as commercial destinations and tourist attractions.
While the concentration of IT and multinational companies of diverse businesses bring in thousands of young minds and senior executives to the city along with huge revenue, it is certainly not this alone that should earn Gurgaon this sobriquet. Silicon Valley in the US is home to the who’s who of the world IT industry. But then Silicon Valley is also known for the 6th highest GDP in the world, and the best air and water supply anywhere on the planet Earth. The infrastructure is awesome and always being upgraded.
And here is our Millennium City, the first in the country, was overwhelmed by a couple o ‘hour’s downpour recording precipitation of just 42 mm. Thousands of motorists including heavy vehicles were stranded everywhere. Engines were stalled. People abandoned their cars on the roads which turned into rivulets and trudged home in knee-deep water. Those who remained inside their vehicles battled rain and jam for hours without food, water, fuel, and cell phone chargers. Families of motorists remained worried and made frantic calls to the police control room. NH 8 was flooded making the movement of traffic impossible.
And to make matters worse there was a power shutdown. The Police Commissioner had to come out on the radio to request workers to exercise the choice of working from their homes if they could. In fact, he was defending those whose poor planning, inaction, and inefficiency led to traffic chaos in Gurgaon.
Most of the debate and visuals centered around traffic jams which obfuscated the debate that should have focused on the core issue of poor city planning and the subsequent failure of the administration to develop infrastructure in line with the growth of Gurgaon leading to this catastrophe. It is largely believed that the reason for these ills is faulty planning and engineering including a proper drainage system within the city and NH 8. A multiplicity of functional authorities including HUDA, Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon, and NHAI added to the chaos and misery suffered by the road users.
Most of the HUDA sectors have been carved out by acquiring village land. Each village used to have a big pond that served as a receptor for excess water. With the disappearance of these water bodies and disregard for the natural slope of the area stormwater management has become difficult.
Every inch of land, sometimes even plots earmarked for parks, schools, and other community facilities have been sold in these sectors making allottees and citizens of Gurgaon suffer. The traditional and natural nullahs and streams have either been sold or encroached and big projects or unauthorized structures have come upon them to meet the ever-increasing housing demand.
Cleaning of drains may be a major issue in Delhi but not in Millennium City. Not even a single cleaning staff was deployed to clear the plastic and biowaste that clogged the drains over the months before the monsoon. There seems to be no protocol in place in this regard.
If Gurgaon has to consolidate its position as a city of choice in the NCR, then its administrators and the government of Haryana will have to take the problems faced by the citizens seriously and act in earnestness. Without any delay, the recurrence of such events is averted in the future. This kind of water logging is not new to Gurgaon. It has been happening in every rainy season. Haryana has proved that if there is political will cities can be transformed over a period of a few years following a definite plan. Rohtak which remained waterlogged even after a small spell of rain can today boast the best water drainage system. A similar initiative needs to be replicated in Gurgaon. Proper drainage should be planned for the new sectors in Gurgaon and Sohna where many housing projects are coming up. The ideal will be to create adequate infrastructure for groundwater recharge as the water table in the area is plummeting at an alarming pace. Efforts should also be made to revive and restore the lost water bodies.
Funds for the upgradation of the Millennium City are not an issue at all as this city is the money spinner for both Haryana and the center. While Haryana earns a lot of revenue by way of VAT, Excise, Property Tax, and other taxes, the center gets its share from Income Tax, Service Tax, and a number of other cesses and taxes. If a fraction of these collections is spent on the upgradation and upkeep of the city, then the woes of the residents and fears of prospective investors can be addressed very effectively.
It is time the Gurgaon officials were slapped on their wrists by their political masters to get their act together and take corrective measures immediately for cleaning the choked drains and engineering corrections in the next few months.
Somesh Goyal is a serving IPS officer who has made Gurgaon his home.
The views expressed are personal.
Published in The Tribune
1.8.2016
