Speed up land acquisition for drain near NH-48: CS

Haryana chief secretary Dr Vivek Joshi on Tuesday directed officials to expedite the acquisition of land at Narsinghpur village for Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) to construct a drain and related infrastructure in order to resolve the perennial problem of waterlogging on NH-48 between Hero Honda chowk and Narsinghpur village, people aware of the matter said.

The chief secretary, who was holding a review and coordination meeting with senior Gurugram officials in Chandigarh, also issued directions to Haryana State Industrial & Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) to transfer land to the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) to set up a new solid waste processing facility in the city, the people said.

“The chief secretary issued directions that land acquisition should be expedited at Narsinghpur and the land be handed over to GMDA so that drain can be constructed, which is a permanent solution for waterlogging. Directions were also issued to the forest department for expediting the transfer of land at Rajiv chowk to GMDA so that a storm water drain can be constructed there as well,” a senior government official said.

GMDA, on its part, committed to install additional pumps opposite Narsinghpur to dewater the road till the drain is constructed, the official said.

During the meeting, Dr Joshi also directed for creation of a solid and C&D waste management cell in Gurugram that will comprise of joint commissioner, executive engineers, assistant engineers and sanitary inspectors. He also directed hiring of additional manpower to complete projects in the city.

On the issue of transfer of land for construction of an electric bus depot in Sector 65, Dr Joshi directed officials to complete the process within a month, a statement issued by the state government said.

On this matter, the official said that Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) during the meeting agreed to construct an electric bus depot on a 5-acre plot in Sector 65 on the ground level, which will be handed over to GMDA while it will construct a commercial complex above the bus terminal on the same land.

Senior government officials said the chief secretary also directed MCG to transfer water charges to the tune of ₹158 crore to GMDA, and HSIIDC was asked to pay maintenance fee of ₹51 crore for taking care of its common effluent treatment plant in Manesar.

HSIIDC has also been asked to repair a drain in Manesar on its own cost and transfer it to GMDA.

To resolve the issue of land acquisition across Gurugram for construction and completion of roads, the chief secretary directed HSVP to take up the matter on priority in the court and resolve these issues by opting for different modalities.

Dr Joshi also asked Gurugram officials to actively engage with citizens, take their suggestions, and implement them on the ground. “The public-spirited citizens of Gurugram need to be made a part of grievance-redressal process,” he said in a statement.