The department of town and country planning (DTCP) has served show-cause notices to developers of nine residential projects after finding gaps in the implementation of rainwater harvesting systems.
The developers of these projects, most of which are in the new sectors, have been asked to submit compliance reports by September 19 with pictorial evidence of providing pits to residents’ welfare associations (RWAs) for the system and cleaning of existing harvesting structures.
District town planner (enforcement) RS Batth said the developers have also been asked to explain why penalties according to the Environment Protection Act, 1986, should not be imposed on them.
On May 27, deputy commissioner of Gurgaon, Yash Garg, directed the district town planner to conduct a survey to check proper functioning of rainwater harvesting systems, which included rooftop harvesting structures.
Later, Batth, who is also the nodal officer for rainwater harvesting in the city, conducted surveys in three phases. “In the first phase, sectors 58 to 69 were covered. The second phase included areas under the Municipal Corporation of Manesar and the third phase covered sectors along the Dwarka Expressway,” he said. The surveys were conducted on July 15, July 22 and between August 5 and 6, respectively.
Enforcement teams of DTCP were assisted by officials from the Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP), the municipal corporations of Gurgaon and Manesar and the police department during the study.
The teams found that developers and RWAs in nine societies did not implement the guidelines up to the required standards of cleaning and functionality. The builders and RWAs have been asked to comply with the rules to make their rainwater harvesting systems functional.
According to Haryana Building Code, 2017, all housing societies have to ensure that rainwater harvesting structures are maintained and repaired for storing water for non-potable purposes in an effort to recharge groundwater.
