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India Today
12-08-2025
- India Today
Where have Gurugram's river and hills gone?
Decades before Delhiites jammed NH-48 and Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road to flock to Gurugram for their offices or nightlife, parties, and booze, the cluster of 'grams' southwest of the capital, set on the Aravalli slopes with forests scattered around, was home to ashrams, farmlands, ponds, and seasonal streams flowing down from the world's oldest mountain range. In the 1970s and 1980s, famed yoga guru Dhirendra Brahmachari and even Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar chose Gurgaon as a quiet corner for peace. But all that was before the century turned. It was before the new millennium rolled in, and the rustic retreats gave way to a booming, ever-swelling urban sprawl, which is now full of civic mess that makes the moniker "Millennium City" feel like a question mark. It is hard to imagine that a river and many seasonal streams once flowed through Gurugram, contributing nearly 65% of Haryana's income tax collections and hosting tech giants such as Google, Microsoft, and a number of Fortune 500 companies, often finds its streets waist-deep in water, thoroughfares turned into canals, roads drowned, manholes left gaping, live wires hanging dangerously, cars adrift, and commuters trapped in gridlocks that can stretch from four to eight the transformation of Gurgawan — from its ashram days of Aravallis, rivers, and streams — into a glass, steel, and concrete sprawl was a sharp turn, the scene today is of an even sharper twist. Residents, having spent crores on apartments and lakhs in taxes, step out of gated high-rises only to wade through knee-deep water on the city's pried Golf Course Road, whether the rain is 50 mm or 150 mm. So where did Gurugram's rivers, Aravalli hills, and jungles vanish? What became of the Sahibi River?The forests were felled and flattened, rivers and wetlands encroached upon, their spaces claimed for the post-liberalisation boom. Businesses thrived, Gurugram prospered. But this "development" came at a hefty price. The civic chaos the city faces today is a direct outcome of the gradual dismantling of its natural environment, once defined by the Aravallis, their green cover, a number of lakes and bundhs and the Sahibi River. Vehicles struggle through a flooded section of the Delhi-Ajmer Expressway in Gurugram. (PTI Image) WHO KILLED GURUGRAM'S WATER LIFELINE, SAHIBI RIVER?The Sahibi River, once a seasonal lifeline flowing from the Aravallis in northern Rajasthan's Sikar, passed through Haryana into Delhi. It still flows, but now it's been reduced to what is called the Najafgarh drain in the Sahibi River was an integral part of Gurgaon's hydrology. Along its course once lay wetlands, ponds, and riparian ecosystems, such as the Basai Wetland, Masani Barrage, and a chain of village ponds that sustained farming in the region. Fragments of which still survive, though greatly the two stretches of the Sahibi within Haryana, running along Gurugram's northwestern boundary, are described as "ecologically dead".It is polluted, encroached upon in places, and is cut off from its natural water sources. The Masani Barrage (in Rewari district) has been largely dry since the late 1980s, because of declining rainfall, upstream diversions, and unchecked construction along the Sahibi River's the destruction extends beyond the main Basai village, Gurugram district, five of its six ponds were paved over in just 12 years. They disappeared by 2019, noted a Hindustan Times report from that ponds had been buried under residential sectors, a school, or poisoned by industrial effluent. Google Street View and Google Earth imagery show the Sahibi River's narrow stretch at the Gurgaon-Delhi border, choked with hyacinth and caked with dirt. (Images: Google Street View and Google Earth) Without these water bodies, Gurugram's natural drainage and groundwater recharge systems have been under immense strain. Concretisation of surfaces and stormwater drains in Gurugram has worsened the situation in the rainy season, when excess water that should have been collected in these waterbodies is now left trapped on roads and open spaces in the concrete anyone responsible for the mess that Gurugram has become?In response to a starred question from Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda on the civic woes of Gurugram, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal Khattar said that while urban planning is the function of urban local bodies (ULBs) or urban development authorities, the Centre supplements the efforts of the states through financial and technical week, Khattar, in an answer in the Parliament, said that the unique topography, featuring the Aravalli hills to the east and the Najafgarh drain to the northwest, was the reason for instances of waterlogging in Gurugram."The elevation difference of about 78 metres between the Najafgarh drain and the Aravalli hills has created a natural gradient for water flow, which was historically controlled through a series of bunds constructed in the late 19th century, such as Chakarpur, Jharsa, Wazirabad, and Ghata bunds. However, rapid urbanisation has rendered many of the bunds obsolete and reduced pond networks, impacting the traditional drainage system," Khattar said in response to Hooda's excess water, which once flowed northwest along Gurugram's natural gradient to reach the Sahibi, no longer makes it there. As a result, the river (which is now essentially a drain) isn't recharged, and the water ends up stagnating on the concrete streets, with little earth left to enable 2018 Gurgaon Flooding Report and NIUA hydrological mapping conclude that Gurgugram's urban drainage plan ignored natural flow patterns. That's why even light rain turns the planned sectors into waterlogged the Sahibi River has died a slow death, the Aravalli hills to the east and north, and the green cover over it, have been dealt a faster blow. This topographic map shows Gurugram's natural 76-metre slope descending from the Aravalli hills in the southeast towards the Sahini River Najafgarh drain in the northwest. (Image: Elevation API from OpenStreetMap) ARAVALLIS, ONCE A NATURAL SHIELD OF GURUGRAM, IS NOW UNDER SIEGEadvertisementLike the waterbodies, the ancient range of the Aravallis, the oldest in the world, once shielded Gurugram from desertification, filtered its air, and housed leopards, hyenas, and native tropical dry deciduous thorny a Supreme Court ban on mining in parts of the Aravallis in Gurugram, Nuh, and Faridabad since 2009, illegal extraction of stone and sand remains rampant. Several environmentalists and citizens' pressure groups have urged the government to designate the Aravallis a no-go zone with strict enforcement and restoration of degraded sites, but state compliance has been Gurugram's Sonha, illegal stone quarries have flattened hillocks, causing permanent damage to the Aravalli range, as documented in a 2019 Down To Earth investigation 2020, an entire Aravalli hillock was reportedly flattened to build an approach road for farmhouses being constructed in Bandhwari, around 1.5km off the Gurugram-Faridabad highway. It was the second reported disappearance of a hill in that section of the range since 2018, when the Supreme Court learnt that one-fourth of the Aravalli hills in neighbouring Rajasthan had vanished. Firefighters attempt to douse a fire at Gurugram's Bandhwari landfill, located in the Aravallis, where pressure groups have long demanded a dumping ban and no-go zone status. (Image: PTI) In June, a 33-foot-wide illegal concrete road was laid in Basai Meo (in adjoining Mewat district), to aid mining inside a protected zone, The Times of India the 582 recorded cases of illegal mining in Aravallis, there has been just one conviction, reported the Business Standard in 2023. Multiple NGT and Supreme Court orders have demanded online complaint systems, CCTV monitoring, and district-level action plans to safeguard what remains of the Aravallis, but enforcement remains ecological cost has been severe. Deforestation has invited dust storms from the Thar, accelerated desertification, depleted groundwater, and raised the NCR's already dangerous air pollution REVENUE WINDFALL, DEVELOPMENT SHORTFALLOnce a semi-arid agricultural area, Gurugram has morphed into one of India's wealthiest urban centres. It hosts the Indian offices of several of the Fortune 500 companies, tech giant Microsoft, and serves as headquarters for giants like Coca-Cola, BMW, Hyundai, and Cargill. Gurugram also boasts India's third-highest per-capita income and adds the highest tax money to the Haryana government's the wealth, residents face infrastructure that businessman-columnist Suhel Seth condemned as "slum-like"."It's bizarre. The richest people live in slum-like environments," Seth July, former Jet Airways CEO Sanjiv Kapoor called out Gurugram's civic authorities over poor waste management, sharing photos that revealed the grim reality of Sector 44's streets. Gurugram is an urban mess. At one moment its potholes, another a waterlogged underpass, and often choking air thick with smoke. (Images: PTI) Gurugram has turned out to be a city of governance failure, masked by skyscraper Servant and IRTS officer, J Sanjay Kumar, said that replacing concrete with green cover, protecting wetlands, and allowing water to seep into the ground is the key to preventing urban flooding, something Noida has done better than Gurgaon."Remove the concrete jungle, let water percolate. Plant trees to absorb excess water. Protect wetlands which store water. Only solution to prevent urban flooding. This is the reason Noida has better conditions than Gurgaon. Noida has at least better green cover than Gurgaon," Kumar posted on X last positive and corrective measures are taken, things are to remain as they have been for a decade the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) rolled out an AI-driven property tax recovery mechanism, pulling in Rs 200 crore so far, including Rs 95 crore in July alone, according to a report in The Times of India. But as the concerns naturally follow, many argue this windfall must turn into real development, not yet another case of wasted journey from a quiet suburb under the shade of the Aravalli to a global corporate hub came at a steep price. The cost has been the erasure of its own rivers, wetlands, and hills. The urban floods, heat islands, and dust-laden air aren't random crises. They're the echoes of large-scale environmental dismantling. There's still a chance to fix what's been damaged. But bold steps must be taken now, before these changes become irreversible.- EndsMust Watch
Indian Express
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Once ashram of power whisperer Dhirendra Bramhachari, now home to the penniless in Gurgaon
Yoga classes by the district administration, a cricket ground for locals, a shelter for people with nowhere else to stay, and a haunt of dealers in scrap and second-hand furniture. This is what is spread across the 30-acre land in Gurgaon's Sector 30, which once held the Aparna Ashram of the late Dhirendra Brahmachari, the jet-setting yoga guru to the country's mightiest — and which the Haryana government has now moved formally to take over, passing a Bill that awaits the President's approval. With the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi among Brahma-chari's disciples, the ashram had flourished. Central grants over time helped it purchase this prime plot, now reportedly worth several hundred crores. Since Brahmachari's demise in 1994, though, the ashram has been at the centre of constant litigation, with competing sides laying claim to it. The only sign now of what is at stake is two constables posted at the site, from the Sector 40 Police Station, who guard the 5-acre section of the property that is already under state government ownership. This is the site where yoga classes are held in the open, and where the demolished remnants of the ashram's main building, including a former helipad, lie. Refusing to be identified, one of the constables says: 'We have been here for two months now, but police have been guarding this place since February 2023, when the (ashram) building was demolished. The yoga classes started a month after that.' A small tin shed built for the constables to stay on the property 24×7 means the encroachers have stayed away from these five acres. 'Even if there is only one of us, no one will dare trespass,' says the constable. Inspector Lalit Kumar, Station House Officer of the Sector 40 Police Station, says they have not received any complaints or had any issues relating to any attempted encroachments on the land where the two policemen are stationed. 'They have been deployed as a precautionary measure,' Kumar says, adding that they had not received any fresh instruction from the district administration as regards the land, given the passage of the Bill. Away from the constables' eyes, on the other side of the disputed property, a settlement ironically called 'Indira Vikas Colony' is watching in apprehension as the construction of a boundary wall demarcating the former ashram land indicates the government's resolve to take over the premises. Afraid of inviting action, the residents talk only on the condition of anonymity. A group of scrap dealers, who have been staying and working out of this area since the start of the year, say they have not received any notices so far and are waiting and watching. 'We have not faced any hassle. If any notice comes, we will see,' says one of the scrap dealers. Their neighbours include three old furniture dealers from Uttar Pradesh, who say the notices have come to them. As a precaution, they have moved their shop from one site within the property to another. 'For poor people like us, nothing is certain. They (the authorities) can come anytime to remove us,' says one of them, adding that they would act as asked. 'What can we even do if the State is set on doing this (taking over the land)?' A group of local families claims they have been 'paying rent' for the shanties they occupy and, since they have not received any notice yet, are 'at ease'. 'Our landlords will know about all this, we do not,' a woman says. At the same time, she admits families like hers would have nowhere to go if evicted by the State.
