Gurugram, Jun 28 (IANS): The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) has collaborated with a NGO to revive a water body spread over 80 acres of land in Sikanderpur area here.
The development authority and the NGO have been working on the project for the last two years, officials said.
The project was launched by Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar in 2019 and the work had been assigned to a city-based NGO, "IamGurugram".
The estimated project cost was around Rs 15 crore.
GMDA officials said that the establishment of the water body is part of a larger project of reviving a natural pond in the Sikanderpur area.
Once constructed, it will help to arrest rainwater and will protect Gurugram from floods every monsoon season.
As per the officials, encroachments had been removed from Sikanderpur during multiple demolition drives in July and August last year to clear the land. The area was fenced to prevent future encroachments.
"Following multiple demolition drives, encroachments surrounding Sikanderpur water body have been largely removed. The work of cleaning the water body has been finished. Plantation work has also been done here. The objective is to restore the Aravalli for recharging the groundwater and also to restore the lake," said a GMDA official.
"Besides, we are also proposing the construction of a pipeline connecting water body along with a treated water tank. When rainfall ends, we can fill up the pond with treated water. Once the pipeline is constructed, we will have to create an artificial wetland for treating this recycled water," he added.
The GMDA official highlighted the importance of the project which will have trees, plants, walkway and shrubs native to the Aravallis and will act as a catchment area for rainwater and channelising it towards the pond.
He said that this spot will be just 2.5 kilometres from the national capital.
Apart from the Sikanderpur project, another one at Wazirabad was launched as a model project in 2019. The official claimed that the restoration work at Wazirabad is almost complete.
Elaborating about the project, Latika Thakural from iamGurugram said "It was a challenge for us to clean the wastewater and it took almost one year to clean it. Due to wastewater, a natural water body was converted into 'nala'. The wastewater came from the nearby societies."
"We are taking road waste material to modernise this water body. Plantation work at Sikanderpur had been finished in the previous year. However, due to the pandemic, the work was suspended over here," Latika said, adding once all the work is completed the residents will have another natural place in Gurugram where they can enjoy along with family.
According to a survey, Gurugram district has 644 water bodies.