CHANDIGARH/GURGAON: Depleting water table in Gurgaon, leaving behind issues as power shortage and labour unrest, is the most worrying concern for the Haryana government, says Congress MP Deepender Hooda. Gurgaon has had its worst summer this year as the residents grappled with a peaking power demand of 200 lakh units and 80 MGD of water supply. "Power remains an issue but I don't think it's the biggest issue. Not even law and order. The bigger challenge for us in Gurgaon is tackling the water crisis. Unfortunately, this year's summer was bad, that compounded the situation," said Hooda.The MP from Rohtak believes that the problem is so big that it would not be possible for the government to tackle it alone and it needed support from civil society.

"People should be responsible and do its bit wholeheartedly to conserve water. People's support is a must," said Hooda."Transporting water from other cities is not the solution. Laws already exist and recently even the high court has issued directions. The solution is the social responsibility by the leading indutrialists and communities. There has to be a non-political movement by social groups and residents welfare," said Hooda.

According to the department of town and country planning (DTCP), there are about 1,33,900 sanctioned water connections in Gurgaon, including 29,942 connections in the old town.

The water shortage in the city has fluctuated between as low as 30MGD to as high as 40MGD. A month ago, the demand had shot up so high that Punjab and Haryana high court, in its July 16 order, had to completely prohibit the use of groundwater for any new construction in Gurgaon.The HC, through another order on July 24, has already made it mandatory for all Gurgaon houses with more than 100-square-metre covered area each to have a rainwater harvesting system. The city's groundwater reserves have already touched the red zone due to unchecked use. According to the Groundwater Cell department, the water table had plummeted in July-August by a further 90cm to 1 metre, making its availability a serious concern.

To tide over this crisis and also in the wake of the recent high court order banning use of underground water for construction work, HUDA has now decided to supply them treated sewage water for the purpose. "Nearly 98MGD sewage that is produced in the city can be converted into water. However, these steps need much more investment. Rainwater harvesting systems are a shorter and much more viable route," said a senior official at HUDA.