In Gurgaon, licence only to builders who agree to not use underground water

CHANDIGARH/ GURGAON: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Monday restrained the Haryana Urban Development Authority ( HUDA) from issuing new licences to developers in Gurgaon unless they give an undertaking that groundwater would not be consumed for construction work.

In a potent, environment friendly verdict, which underlines the acute water crisis in Gurgaon, a division bench comprising Chief Justice (acting) Jasbir Singh and Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain passed the order while hearing a bunch of petitions filed by Qutub Enclave Residents Welfare Association and others.

The HC directed the secretaries of HUDA, the department of town and country planning (DTCP) and state irrigation department to appear in person on July 31 to respond to the court on the issue.

The officers have been asked to furnish exact details about the total population, water demand, number of water connections, number of tubewells, etc. The court directed the officials to submit a workable policy and plan to recharge groundwater which is depleting at the worrisome rate of about 1 metre per year.

“The court has not only barred licences for new constructions, but renewal of licences for old projects has been stayed. Ongoing constructions are also under the scanner. This strengthens the ambit of similar strictures issued earlier by the Supreme Court,” said Nivedita Sharma, the petitioners’ lawyer. The city sees six new launch announcements a month on average.

The petitioners said the verdict would go a long way in saving the environment in the region.

Times View

This ban may come as a jolt to many but the real issue at stake is larger than just construction in Gurgaon. It goes to the very heart of what kind of urbanisation we want in India. Should urbanisation proceed heedless of basic issues like where the water is going to come from and where the sewage will flow to? Clearly not. Urbanisation of this kind might seem like development in the short run but is obviously not sustainable since it puts an unbearable strain on natural resources. Our urban planning bodies need to put their heads down and think the matter through seriously. If not, we could be looking at a very grim future for our towns and cities.
Gurgaon developers fear slowdown in realty market

According to our estimates, builders in Gurgaon illegally extract as much as 50 million gallons per day (MGD) for construction. This at a time when citizens are forced to buy water from private tankers, which is another mafia of sorts,” said RS Rathee, a leading petitioner, and president of Gurgaon Citizens' Council (GCC).

According to petitioners, for a population of 20 lakh, the city’s daily water demand is 200 million gallons per day (MGD). While 50MGD flows from civic taps, the remaining 150MGD is extracted from the ground by frantic digging of borewells. According to one estimate, there are over 30,000 borewells in the district of Gurgaon.

The builders, on their part, said they were worried that an already sluggish realty market would further slow down in the wake of the court order. There are more than 100 mid- and large-size construction projects in the Gurgaon-Manesar region.

With the master plans for Sohna and a draft master plan for Pataudi ready, these figures are expected to double in the near future. The HC order is likely to put a brake on that almost reckless growth in which realty far outpaces infrastructural development.

The flip side of the order is that the consumer may have to bear the escalation in cost. Transporting huge quantities of water from distant locations for construction activities means astronomical amounts. Unlike neighboring Delhi which was built from Yamuna waters, Gurgaon doesn’t have a river. Said a builder, “That means we buy water from elsewhere. Someone has to pay for that, and no builder in his senses would pick up the tab.”