GURUGRAM: As summer approaches, families living in DLF-1’s bungalows, valued in crores, start filling up buckets of water. This exercise, an annual one, is done to ensure they don’t run out even if supply takes a hit. Which it often does, they said.
“There is severe water scarcity here in the summer. Many times, we pay private tankers to get water. They also charge higher prices because of high demand. The irony is that there is a shortage of water supply in the summer, and flooding during the monsoon. I don’t understand why we need to fight for basic needs,” Sangeeta Singh (42), a homemaker who lives in a three-storied house there.
Savita Choudhary, another resident of DLF-1, said, “Water is the major issue in our ward because there is a gap between demand and supply. Residents have to pay hefty charges to get supply from private tankers during peak summer months.”
DLF-1 is part of ward 23, which also includes Sector 28, Chakkarpur village, Maruti Vihar and Saraswati Vihar.
“Pipelines in DLF-1 were laid in the 1980s and are four inches wide. In other areas, pipelines are six inches wide. With increasing population, demand is more. Water shortage is worse in E and A blocks. People end up using potable water for construction, which is a complete waste. There are no checks. And growing commercialisation of the residential area is further worsening the situation,” said Dhruv Bansal (45) a jeweller who lives in an independent house in the area.
Bansal said power outages were also common because electricity infrastructure was outdated.
“During summer, one transformer malfunctions every day because of overloading. Most of the people who live in this ward are among the highest taxpayers of Haryana. Still, there are no civic amenities here,” he added.
Residents said they hope the March 2 civic election will resolve some of their problems. “Water scarcity and power load problems are annual issues that last 2-3 months every time,” said Harmohinder Kaur, another DLF-1 resident.
Asked about voters’ concerns, Rama Rani Rathi, an independent candidate who is contesting from ward 23, said she will push for digging up a reservoir to store rainwater.
“The water distribution systems inside all the colonies in the ward and Chakkarpur have to be checked and upgraded to prevent leakage to ensure adequate and equitable supply of water to all residents. Underground water tanks have to be built in many areas. I was able to cut through the bureaucratic roadblocks and get Maruti Vihar and Saraswati Vihar connected to the master water pipeline and get a water tank constructed,” Rathi, a former councillor, said.
Traffic, all the way
Residents of Sector 10A, Khandsa Road and Kadipur village live close to arterial roads of the city, but this connectivity is a bane, instead of a boon, for them.
Traffic, especially during the rush hours, makes it difficult for them to commute anywhere else to and from the city.
“Sometimes, it takes me over half an hour to cover just 0.5 kilometres from Hero Honda Chowk to the Sector 10A market because of traffic jams,” said Ramesh Kumar
Sector 10A and the areas around it are part of ward 10.
Rajesh Bansal, who has been living in the sector for years, said traffic volume rapidly increased after the Basai flyover was built and linked to the newly built Dwarka Expressway. “The stretch before Basai flyover, between Hero Honda Chowk and Umang Bhardwaj Chowk, is in a bad condition too. It is repaired, but it takes no time for potholes to return,” he said. Sunil Choudhary, another resident, said people’s demands from the next councillor were “basic”. “Roads with no potholes. A drainage network that is adequate. Timely garbage collection and crackdown on illegal construction,” he said, listing out residents’ expectations.
