Bad roads and waterlogging may decide MCG election

The bureaucrats in Gurgaon’s government agencies and the BJP, which is in power in Haryana, often find themselves at stalemate. Over the last six years, they have traded charges over a number of issues, including maintenance of roads, waterlogging and waste disposal.

Bureaucrats have blamed the BJP for insufficient release of funds and administrative confusion for delay in execution of projects while the BJP blamed them for their inefficiency in executing their roles. Hence, several projects remained on paper and civic issues continue to haunt residents.

Maintenance of roads

Commuters will have to navigate on pothole-riddled roads as the deadline to repair city roads has been extended to July 15. It is the third extension in the last six months as the state failed to assign a clear nodal agency for the project.

Last month, the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) directed officials to repair all roads in the city and make them motorable by July 15 but they the civic body was not the original nodal agency.

In a press meet on September 5, 2016, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had directed the Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) and the MCG to ensure that roads are motorable by December 31 and called for better coordination among departments of the agencies.

A week later, Khattar advanced the deadline to November 1 and appointed the public works department (PWD) as the nodal agency. PWD officials later denied being given the role.

Last month, urban local bodies (ULB) released ₹104 crore for the repair work of nearly 300km of city roads to the MCG.

Waterlogging

In June, a gridlock due to acute waterlogging was foreseeable but failure to execute flood control measures, delay in construction of artificial water bodies and cleaning of drains led to the flooding in July-August.

Civic and government officials had decided to redevelop six ponds as catchment areas to let rainwater accumulate These ponds would also serve as groundwater recharge zones too. The work at Basai pond was completed and the rest remains on paper.

To divert rainwater, the Khandsa drain had to be extended along NH-8 at Hero Honda Chowk. An artificial lake had to be built in Sector 72 to keep water away from NH 8 and northern sectors. Also, check dams were to be constructed at Ghata to control water level. However, none of these projects were completed.

In between, the government suspended six MCG executive engineers for issuing tenders for development projects worth ₹23.10 crore without using the e-tendering process.

Waste management

The Bandhwari waste plant has been a defunct since June 2013 and turned into a landfill. The continued dumping at the plant has led to a pool of dirty water or leachate accumulating in the adjoining Aravalli forest, polluting the aquifers around.

Similarly, plans to build the city’s first construction and demolition (C&D) waste plant has been in limbo for the last three years owing to the delay in settling on a site. It was solved only two months ago. The city currently generates over 300 to 400 tonnes of C&D waste per day. The amount dumped increases by 15% annually.