Natural drain in Gwal Pahari encroached upon, residents say MCG not bothered
The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has failed to remove encroachments from the natural storm water drain, which starts from Gwal Pahari in the Aravallis and travels 29km through the city to merge with the Najafgarh drain, claim residents.
The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has failed to remove encroachments from the natural storm water drain, which starts from Gwal Pahari in the Aravallis and travels 29km through the city to merge with the Najafgarh drain. The nullah carries run-off water from the Aravalli range.
A month ago , the drain caused flooding on the Gurgaon-Faridabad Road and that resulted in a 7km jam on carriageways. Gurgaon-Faridabad Road divides the nullah in Gwal Pahari.
“Due to the mala fide intentions of the district administration and the municipal corporation, some private developers continue to keep large portions of the nullah on both sides of the Gurgaon-Faridabad Road in their custody. Besides the nullah, some revenue roads are also encroached upon,” said Vaishali Chandra, a resident of Valley View Apartments, Gwal Pahari.
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A large portion of nullah is encroached upon by influential people and private developers near Ghata village as well.
“For over four years, we have been reporting to the authorities about the encroachments on the nullah and the revenue roads. But nothing has happened so far. The administration said it has acted on the complaints but the end result is zero,” said Mangal Singh, another resident.
The residents said this is a clear case of a nexus between builders and bureaucracy to fill their pockets at the cost of the environment.
“This storm water drain is part of the 29 km Badshahpur drain, which brought Gurgaon to a halt last monsoon as it overflowed. The Gurgaon-Faridabad road was jammed again for six hours on January 9 this year for the same reason,” said a forest officer, on condition of anonymity.