Real Estate Gurgaon

Gurgaon is facing a rather grim prospect. Already reeling under an acute drinking-water shortage, the city’s groundwater reservoirs could run dry in the next decade or so, warn scientists.

A study conducted by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) says the depletion rate of groundwater in Gurgaon for the past 25 years has been very alarming, at 3 ft per year.

CGWB scientist Dr Uma Kapoor said, “As against the 59.85 million cubic metre (MCM) of groundwater recommended for utilisation, Gurgaon actually used up 186.10 MCM, at a rate of 311 per cent. Any extraction beyond recommended utilisation should be supplemented with recharge of water back into the earth, which is not happening in Gurgaon.”

Kapoor, who was speaking at a seminar organised by the DLF Qutub Enclave Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA), said the groundwater level in the city had fallen from 15.41 metre in 1985 to 39.79 metre in 2007.

The highest utilisation was recorded in the Maruti Industrial area, where the groundwater level fell by 37.11 metre during the same period.

Dr D Chakraborty, another CGWB scientist, warned residents of DLF City that at the current rate of groundwater depletion, Gurgaon could lose its entire drinking-water reservoirs in the next 10 years. He said developers were responsible for using up underground water for real-estate Gurgaon development, which has boomed in the city.

RS Rathee, president of the RWA, said developers had not taken adequate measures to check the fall in the groundwater level, while the association’s vice-president Dr RN Wahi said his suggestion to developers to address the problem had received a “cold response”.

Source://hindustantimes.com