As the monsoon arrived, social media in Gurgaon was abuzz with a short video “Top 5 places to visit in Gurgaon this monsoon”. This tongue-in-cheek video showcased the Sohna waterfall, the Udyog Vihar Lake, the Ansal Plaza Ocean, the DLF rafting Point and the Sector 29 Scuba Diving. Not to be left behind, South City-1 had its own share of South City Arcade Lake, the Venice canal experience in lanes of A and C Blocks and its scuba diving spot near the Orchid School T point.
To the great disappointment of most residents of our colony, none of our spots could make it to the Video “Top 5 spots to visit in Gurgaon this monsoon”. Many residents were seen discussing this in parks during morning and evening walks. A group is blaming the “Shodi (read as Shoddy) Media” for this injustice done to our colony. Another group feels that due to the paltry drain cleaning work done by the MCG (Municipal Corporation of Gurugram) officials in our area, we lost an opportunity to be showcased in the viral video. They now want to organize a protest outside the office of the MCG commissioner so that all drain cleaning is stopped for South City-1 to claim its badge of honour.
Both the groups need to understand water logging in South City is caused by numerous factors, such as inadequate drainage infrastructure, lack of water harvesting pits, disappearing water bodies like the pond behind Retreat Apartments, climate change and heavy rainfall. Shoddy Media and MCG officials have only a limited role in this. Therefore, it is imperative to ensure that effective solutions to prevent or mitigate water logging in Gurugram are not executed next year.
Let us hope that we make the esteemed list next monsoon.
