Photo: Prakhar Pandey
While the State of Haryana and its civic agencies have not been able to provide adequate infrastructure, including basic amenities like water, power, sanitation and roads to the existing Gurgaon city and residents, the decision by the previous government to relentlessly and independently (of the NCR Board) push ahead with its Master Planning (2021, 2025, 2031) has now left the residents of even the new sectors most vulnerable. The Master Plans that were prepared were nothing more than Real Estate allocations. As a result, apart from the shortage of natural resources, Gurgaon is now being enveloped in a smoky haze (and will probably remain so for decades), thanks to the unending construction activity - despite current occupancy being low and there being few new buyers. The most pressing issue, however, is that the water table under the City is getting dangerously low, which could indeed have disastrous consequences, warn experts. While the authorities and civil society are discussing ways to tackle this situation in (current) Gurgaon, the Real Estate industry is busy building more castles in the air. Thousands of apartments and commercial complexes are coming up in the new Gurgaon sectors (58 to 115 – christened GII by FG), while water, power and sewage lines are yet to be set up. Several builders, however, have already ‘completed’ their projects, and are now giving possession to apartment buyers, in gross violation of the rules, with the collusion of the authorities. They are still deviously extracting ground water for all their projects. And the irony is that the water from these same illegal tubewells will now be sold to the hapless residents through water tankers (as the official supply remains a pipedream)!
It was only a chance visit to the Kherki Doula toll plaza that brought this illegal use and sale of water through tankers by construction companies, to the notice of Mukesh Sharma, a senior Congress leader. He has filed a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, praying for the stoppage of this activity, as it could lead to the emptying of the (underground) water table. The ban on the use of ground water for construction was imposed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2011, after it was found that the water table in Gurgaon was going down significantly and it could imperil the water security of the city. Sharma filed a petition in the High Court on November 19, 2014. On the basis of this, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has banned the issuance of Occupation Certificates to projects that fall in Sectors 68 to 80. The High Court had even called in the Chief Secretary and Chief Administrator, HUDA on January 9, and asked them to urgently find a solution to the problem. When they didn't (or couldn't), the Court issued the ban order. Mukesh Sharma says that the authorities should not let the Gurgaon Manesar Master Plan be used as a ruse to build new sectors that do not have the related civic infrastructure in place first. The current Gurgaon sectors have paid too heavy a price, and are still paying, for this lacuna. Sharma says that the civic agencies have admitted that the water pipelines for the new sectors would only come up over the next 4 to 5 years. Meanwhile, new residents, many having invested their life’s savings, unsuspectingly (or perhaps resignedly) continue to move in. There are estimated to be 118 projects that are under different stages of construction in Sectors 68 to 80. Although many builders are involved in these sectors (and about 100 across all new sectors), only five of them have taken Occupation Certificates - Shyam Telecom, Frontier, CHD, DLF Universal and Gupta Builders. After the High Court order, DTCP (Town & Country Planning) has issued show cause notices to these developers and also to Unitech, Godrej, Ninex and Tata, who have big projects in these sectors. Interestingly, while the extraction of groundwater is banned in Gurgaon (for construction), the use of the same is allowed if the water comes from adjacent Sohna. This loophole has been extensively exploited by the developers, while continuing to use the groundwater within Gurgaon, alleges prominent social activist Sharad Goel. “Most builders maintain two or three water tankers, along with a retinue of staff, to ostensibly bring water from Sohna. Receipts are also obtained from farmers, for the sale of their water - while illegal pumping continues unabated in Gurgaon. The farce continues,” alleges Goel.
Experts say that the time has come to assess the ‘carrying capacity’ of Gurgaon, and use it to create an optimal spatial plan – especially residential. Even today, about 40 per cent of the population has to source water from illegal water tankers or have installed banned borewells. As per CGWB data, almost 70 per cent of water in Gurgaon comes from ground sources, with a large part of that coming from illegal borewells. There are almost 10,000 registered borewells, while the number of illegal ones is many times this number. The City also does not have adequate water and sewage treatment plants, as a result of which both the available water and waste water cannot be processed, for their separate usage. Mukesh Sharma says that till the 1990s, water could be found in Gurgaon at 45-50 feet, but now in some places the bores have to go down to 500 feet. “Many tubewells have dried up or the quality of water has become bad; it could become toxic tomorrow,” warns Sharma. Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner TL Satyaprakash, who has been keeping an eye on the situation, agrees that the poor water availability is due to inadequate planning of both demand and supply, which has led to the emergence of an illegal market for water. He believes that a supply-side solution needs to be prioritised – through better planning by the civic agencies, and by finding ways to pump canal water into Gurgaon. Clearly the (new) Administration seems helpless in the short term (the previous Administration was not even able to decide who is/should be in charge of water, and where). Unfortunately, the severity of the problem is only going to increase with every passing day and project. Civil society members allege that the authorities have just turned a blind eye towards the activities of the builders, and it is a shame that the High Court has had to repeatedly step in, just to ensure that they do their duty. B.K. Dhawan, a civil society activist, wants to know why the apartment buyers, who have invested their lifelong earnings, should be made to continually suffer because of the inefficiency or neglect of the government agencies. “Why are the building plans passed and Occupation Certificates issued, if water has to be bought from tankers, power produced through polluting generators and sewage transported by tractor trollies?” he asks. Dhawan wants the developers to pay for the problems being faced by homebuyers, and demands the imposition of penalties. Warning that unplanned development and the occupation of apartments complexes that have no civic pipelines, could lead to disaster. Dharambir Yadav, another activist, cites the example of Mayfield Gardens, a colony that has seen a perpetual battle between the residents and the developer(s), due to lack of basic infrastructure and facilities. Yadav says that the government should ensure that an Occupation Certificate is issued only after requisite infrastructure is built - or else people will continue to suffer. Vashisht Goel, a Gurgaon-based social activist, seems to see it differently (and this is perhaps what the builders play on). “Many developers have taken almost 95 per cent of the money. The people are paying interest and instalments, and if the homes are delayed they will suffer. It will also provide an opportunity or excuse to builders to further delay their projects,” he opines. Mukesh Sharma is clear that it is the builders that need to feel the pressure, and be fully accountable. Since EDC and IDC for the setting up of civic infrastructure have already been paid by the buyers, the civic agencies and builders need to work overtime to lay pipelines, power cables and other infrastructure, to ensure that people get what they have paid for, and been promised. Some civil society activists believe that a separate agency needs to be set up just to monitor the extraction, distribution and usage of water. Sanjay Sharma, a real estate consultant, says that there is need to carry out an extensive water and water bodies audit, and then develop a comprehensive water plan for the next couple of decades. There also may be a more serious problem in the making. Surveys have revealed that unplanned construction in Gurgaon has led to the blocking of underground paleo-channels, which account for the movement and retention of ground water under the surface.
Interestingly, the next hearing of the PIL filed by Mukesh Sharma has been listed in the High Court for February 10, the same day that the Court will hear the case wherein it has banned the issuance of CLUs (Change of Land Use) and new Licences (in NCR areas of Haryana) until the Gurgaon Manesar Master Plan 2031 is formally approved by the NCR Planning Board. Another important case that will be heard on February 10 relates to a petition filed against builders for not having created adequate power infrastructure in the colonies that they have developed in the current sectors (1 to 57).
FG has been calling this issue to the attention of the authorities and residents since December 2012.
Vol. 2, No. 16 Issue of 7 to 13 Dec., 2012, had carried Stop Gurgaon II on the Cover Page.
Gurgaon II (new sectors 58 to 115) should not be allowed to start functioning if it has the same basic issues that we face today. However, the first residents are already in – and yes, they are without the ‘official’ water and electricity connections. DHBVN and the builders are yet to provide the power infrastructure, and HUDA is yet to provide the water infrastructure – so no connections are possible. The Supreme Court has just directed the Gurgaon developers (HUDA and private) to ensure that basic civic infrastructure as per Plan and Licences is set up within the next 6 months. If not, the residents should petition the High Court. It is time to actually petition the High Court now itself – to stop the habitation of Gurgaon II, until the basic infrastructure – for at least water, power, sewage connection - is first put in place by the developers. How can Gurgaon II be allowed to be inhabited, when even current Gurgaon has not been provided adequate infrastructure – in fact most planned civic infrastructure and facilities are non-existent, inadequate or in very poor shape? The development charges - EDC and IDC – of course have been collected up front, years ago, from the apartment and plot owners. This scam needs to stop.
The recent Editorial A White Paper on Gurgaon of Vol. 4, No. 11, 31 Oct. to 6 Nov., 2014 stated: Most importantly, we need to ensure that the same problems do not recur in the new sectors (58 to 115). T&CP needs to provide the detailed plan, sector wise, as to what will come up where, by when, and by whom (see box also). And who will build, who will maintain the civic infrastructure and facilities? Unfortunately, the new sectors have already started going the same way. Infrastructure is again lagging the development of housing estates. In fact residents are moving into their houses/flats, without their projects being given a formal water and power connection. Clearly, ‘informal connections’, despite the High Court’s orders, have become the order of the day in this City,,,We need to change course now, otherwise we will continue to see ad hoc development. First, builders who have defaulted in current sectors (1 to 57) should be asked to develop, or make good, what they had promised. All their ‘excess’ earnings, from common areas, or from change in plans, need to also be returned to the customers/RWAs. This should include all commercial buildings/areas too. Until they have so complied, these builders should not be allowed to proceed with construction in their new projects. This action should be welcomed by the good builders/developers, as they currently get lumped with the rest.
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