CM Khattar inaugurates key infras projects in Gurugram

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday virtually inaugurated 113 projects in the state developed at the cost of 791 crore and laid the foundation stone of 54 projects costing 1,040 crore. The projects are located across the state, including Gurugram, and these were inaugurated during a function held at village Dhanwapur in the city on Friday.

The chief minister also cautioned people about an impending water scarcity and said recycling of waste water was crucial for the long term survival of future generations.

The inaugurated projects include the key Atul Kataria Chowk underpass, to improve commuting between Gurugram and Delhi, and also users of Dwarka Expressway.

The redevelopment of Atul Kataria Chowk includes the construction of 731m four lane flyover and a four lane bidirectional underpass at Sheetla Mata Mandir road towards Maharana Pratap Chowk, along with a service road. The project has been executed at a cost of 47.40 crore by the public works department (B&R) as a deposit work of Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA).

The Atul Kataria Chowk is one of the busiest intersections in the city and sees a heavy volume of traffic. GMDA officials said revamp of the Chowk will ease traffic congestion and streamline the flow of vehicles. The chief minister also inaugurated eight master roads, which have been repaired at the cost of 50.11 crore.

The underpass at Atul Kataria chowk was delayed by over a year due to the presence of an underground sewage line and other utilities.

Khattar also laid the foundation stone for the construction of 100 MLD (million litres daily) for water treatment at Chandu Budhera treatment plant to be executed at a cost of 70.20 crore.

Addressing the gathering virtually, Khattar said the his government is presently spending 34.5% of the annual budget on infrastructure in the form of capital expenditure.

“After the launch of various IT-based reforms, the menace of corruption has been curbed to a large extent. The state vigilance department has been strengthened and every month, corrupt officials are being caught and shown the door,” he said.

Khattar also said that Haryana is staring at an acute water shortage and many blocks have been declared as dark zone. The dark zone is an area where groundwater depletion exceeds the rate of recharging.

He said there is a demand of 32 million acre feet (MAF) of water in Haryana while only 16 MAF water is available. As a result, a large part of agricultural land remains deprived of irrigation, he said.

“We need to save water and recycle waste water effectively to ensure that future generations don’t face water scarcity. We have formed the Haryana water authority, and the ponds developement authority to ensure that water resources are protected,” he said.

Khattar said 40% of agricultural land is irrigated through canal irrigation systems, 30% through tubewells, and the remaining 30% is dependent on rainwater. “There is a need to promote micro irrigation. Along with that, water will also have to be reused through effective wastewater management. He said there are 207 sewage treatment plant (STP) projects in the state, after completion of which 400,000 acres of land will be irrigated.

The chief minister on Friday inaugurated the 50MLD STP at Dhanwapur village that will be used for irrigation of over 51,000 acres in 30 villages in Gururgam and Jhajjar.

During the visit, he also checked the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) level of the treated water, which was measured at 3. He said reuse of treated water is an important step in conserving water resources. According to experts, if the BOD level of sewage is below 10 after tertiary treatment, then that treated water can be used for irrigation and in industries.

Officials said the 30 villages in Gurugram and Jhajjar are currently dependent on underground water and fresh drinking water channels for irrigation.

Gurugram deputy commissioner (DC) Nishant Kumar Yadav said, “The water table is low in this area and we are in the red zone (highly or extremely highly water stressed areas). Dependence of agriculture on underground water makes the situation even worse. This project will be a mutually beneficial project for villages and city. With this project, we will save drinking water that will benefit areas on the southern side and 31 villages will get treated water.”

Sudhir Rajpal, chief executive officer, GMDA, said an STP of 388 MLD capacity have been set up in villages Dhanwapur and Baharampur and of these, three plants of 50MLD, 68MLD and 100MLD capacity are in Dhanwapur and two plants of 50MLD and 120MLD are in Baharampur.