News: Gurugram: Clean-up done over 2 years, Sikanderpur lake set to open-28-06-2021
GURUGRAM: The GMDA has almost finished its work to revive Sikanderpur waterbody, nearly two years after the project was launched. The area has been cleared of encroachments and it will take a few months before the place is opened for the public, officials have said.
Subhash Yadav, district forest officer, GMDA, said major part of the work, including cleaning the waterbody and removal of encroachments around it, is over. “Plantation work has also been completed and a walkway is being made for public use,” he added.
The waterbody is a part of the Aravali water channel and since it is a creek, the exact measurement is not available, Yadav said.
The project was launched by chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar in 2019 and the work had been assigned to a city-based NGO, iamGurugram.
The project is funded under CSR initiatives of several private organisations.
Latika Thakural from iamGurugram said initially that their major challenge was to stop the flow of sewage waste from illegal dwellings at Sikanderpur village into the waterbody.
“We started the work by cleaning the water,” Thakural said, adding that they have created several small ponds in the area to arrest water. One such waterbody has been created near Shiv Nadar School, she said.
Sikanderpur waterbody will be fed by storm water collected from nearby residential areas, including DLF Phase1 and parts of Golf Course Road. “A pipeline is being laid to connect the waterbody with the nearest waste treatment plant so that it does not dry up,” Thakural said.
The area will be open to the public only in the next few months. “The walkway around Sikanderpur waterbody needs more work and parts of the boundary wall have to be constructed,” Yadav said.
While the initial project cost was pegged at around Rs 15 crore, Thakural said the work is likely to get completed for less than that amount. The revival of the Sikanderpur waterbody and another one at Wazirabad were launched as model restoration projects in 2019. “The restoration work at Wazirabad is almost halfway through,” Yadav said.
Earlier, TOI had reported that GMDA will develop Sikanderpur and Wazirabad waterbodies as models for the revival and restoration of other waterbodies.
A survey by GMDA had revealed that Gurugram has 644 waterbodies, and of those only one is under the authority. Seven are under Haryana State Industry and 10 are under HSVP. It was found that 55 waterbodies are MCG, 310 under gram panchayats and 173 are owned by private parties.
