INTACH's proposal should be accepted

'HC order on constructions salutary'

by Atul Dev

Gurgaon, July 23, 2012


The recent Punjab and Haryana High Court order, banning of issuing fresh licences to builders, till they find an alternate source of water has come as a boon for us. Not only builders but residents too are mercilessly extracting groundwater resulting in depletion of the water table. The water crisis has become so serious that we are forced to buy water.


The Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) has already banned groundwater extraction in the district. There is acute shortage of water and above that builders are indiscriminately using groundwater.

We are living in a city where water is becoming scarce day by day, and we don't follow any method or technique of storing rainwater and allow them to go waste. Builders should use rainwater-harvesting methods besides recycled sewage water for construction work.

If these methods are properly utilised for construction activities then we can have adequate drinking water. But it is unfortunate that the state government is not serious about implementing rainwater harvesting techniques or recycling of sewage waste.

If the state government accepts the proposal of INTACH, which it has been taking up for the last six years, then all water-related problems in the city can be solved forever. The proposal seeks revival of the Najafgarh Jheel (lake).

The lake lies between the borders of Haryana (Gurgaon district) and Delhi. If the government wants a permanent solution to this crisis then INTACH's proposal should be accepted.

(The writer is the convenor of INTACH, Gurgaon Chapter.)