Ponds in Ggn to be recharged: Haryana CM

Gurugram: Providing the framework of his government a day before the Budget session of Haryana Assembly, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday focussed on water conservation and the need to enhance water bodies.

Khattar acknowledged the concerns of falling ground water reserves in Gurugram and stated that to tackle the issue effectively, not only will new water bodies be created but there will also be efforts to restore dying ponds in the city.

"The population of Gurugram and areas around Delhi has grown exponentially over the years. This has adversely affected the ground water reserves of these areas.

"The government has taken cognisance of it and will now works towards reviving the water bodies," said the Chief Minister.

Over 40 per cent of citizens in Gurugram still depend on ground water for their water supply. Water scarcity in large parts of the city has resulted in the growth of water tanker mafia, who sell water to residents at exorbitant rates.

Most residents complain that they are forced to pay amounts above Rs 1,500 and beyond for the tankers.

A huge challenge lies ahead for public officials who want to revive the dying lakes of Gurugram so as to revive the falling groundwater reserves.

A survey, recently concluded by public authorities, revealed that there are only 40 ponds left in Gurugram.

This is huge drop from over 600 ponds that were spread across the city in the 1950's.

Unchecked real estate development and rapid urbanisation has resulted in most of the areas of ponds being converted into areas of commercial usage.

While developing ponds and bunds seems to be a major priority for the district administration, it also has to deal with the menace of illegal borewells, which is diminishing the water resources.

On the part of urban renewal of ponds, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) will start working on the revival three ponds, namely the Basai, Jahajgarh and Sukhrali ponds.

MCG not only aims to rejuvenate these water bodies, but also develop these spots into recreation spots.

While some amount of work has started on the Basai pond, the preparation of budget for works on Sukhrali and Jahajgarh pond is in process by the officials.