Huda Administrator Vows to Revive City’s Dying Lakes

Gurgaon: At a time when the water table in Gurgaon is fast depleting, the Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) administrator, Praveen Kumar,is promising revival of old lakes in the city. HUDA will also ensure that rainwater harvesting system are installed and are functioning properly all over the city.

The department is making plans for the restoration of the tree-acre pond in Sukhrali village on Mehrauli-Gurgaon (MG) Road which will now be revamped by the department. The department is at present working on the possibility of revival of the old lake (Johad) which has now dried up.

The idea of reviving the 15 foot-deep pond is to have natural water bodies that would contribute to maintaining a balance between the ongoing development and the environment.
Also the lakes in the forests of Aravlis will be revamped soon. According to Kumar, reviving those lakes as well will help improve the water table and add to the beauty of the place.

“The city is known as the village of Guru Dronacharya and our idea is to maintain the authenticity of the name. This area is a natural hydrological point,” says Kumar.

The department will also start a survey on the rainwater harvesting systems to find out whether or not these systems installed by colonies and institutions are functioning.

As pr the central Ground water Authority (CGWA) notification, in the notified areas in Gurgaon and the adjoining industrial areas all the institutions and residential colonies over 250 sq yards it is mandatory to adopt water harvesting.

According to the environmentalists, the city has seen a sudden growth in the past few years which has disturbed the balance of the natural resources.

Environment experts say that it’s not only the depleting groundwater but the land sharks have also emerged as water guzzlers.

Vivek Kamboj, founder of Haryali NGO, said, “The city does not have many natural water bodies left and their revival will help in recharging the groundwater which is depleting at a high rate. The lakes in the Aravalis are gradually disappearing because of the imbalance in the nature because of the speedy development. The rainwater harvesting system also helps in recharging the groundwater but there is no check on their functioning till now,”

(According to environmentalists, the city has seen a sudden growth in the past few years which has disturbed the balance of the natural resources)