Sewage enters homes in Palam Vihar, residents blame GMDA
The Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA) said that a sewage line being desilted in Palam Vihar was plugged by the contractor and the dirty water from it was diverted to the stormwater drain, which is still under construction
Gurugram: Sewage from the stormwater drain passing through F Block of Palam Vihar entered homes and underground water tanks after it was diverted by a Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) contractor from an adjoining sewage line, residents of the area complained on Sunday.
The seepage allegedly started at about 1pm on Saturday and kept on flowing till late evening, they said. According to people living in the area, no corrective action was taken by the GMDA despite repeated complaints.
The Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA) on Sunday said that a sewage line being desilted in Palam Vihar was plugged by the contractor and the dirty water from it was diverted to the stormwater drain, which is still under construction. The RWA also complained to the local police regarding the matter and sought immediate action.
Lt General B N Pande (retd), president of F Block RWA in Palam Vihar said that they were surprised on Saturday afternoon when suddenly sewage water started gushing into the F Block lane initially and then gradually seeped into their houses. “Around 1.5 feet deep sewage water kept flowing in throughout the day into Block E and Block F. This dirty water later entered into basements and drawing rooms and muck was spread everywhere,” he said.
The RWA members said that they kept on calling the GMDA officials from the afternoon and it was only in the evening that they responded and arrived at the spot. “By the time any response came, the water had already entered underground water tanks and despite assurance that the entire area would be cleaned on Sunday, nothing happened,” said Pande.
Naresh Sharma, former president, F Block RWA, said that after the GMDA officials visited the spot, they informed them that a sewage drain being cleaned at Palam Vihar had been plugged for desilting and that water had been diverted to the under-construction stormwater drain (leg one) at Palam Vihar.
“We had informed the GMDA officials about the matter in the afternoon and it took almost five hours for them to remove the blockage in the stormwater drain with an earth-moving machine. This is nothing but negligence and action should be taken against those responsible for such an issue,” he said.
When asked about the matter, a senior GMDA official said that after getting complaints from the residents, they went to the spot and investigated the problem and it was found that a private contractor had plugged the sewage pipeline and water had been diverted to the stormwater drain without informing both the sewage and storm water divisions.
“The contractor had not informed the officials and carried out the plugging and diversion. We immediately removed the plug in the stormwater drain and the water was diverted. We will also clean the road and the adjoining areas with recycled water,” he said.
