‘Why are we living like pigs?’: Gurgaon’s ‘millennium city’ hides a neighbourhood drowning in sewage and disease

It took a number of days for some elements of Gurugram to get better from waterlogging after latest rainfall. But in Saraswati Enclave in Sector 10B, the water by no means actually left. Residents have been wading by means of sewage overflows, swimming pools of stagnant water, receiving soiled faucet water, and affected by illness since 2023. 

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram workplace is simply 4 km away from the world, however locals allege it turns a blind eye to their repeated complaints.

Nearly 60 locals rallied on the MCG workplace in Sector 34 this week, reiterating their calls for: a everlasting technical repair to the sewer line blockages, fast provision of secure and enough ingesting water, and strict disciplinary motion towards negligent staff and contractors who shut complaints with out fixing them. 

“Stop corruption,” learn one placard. “Why have we been living a pig’s life for the past six months? Commissioner, give us an answer,” learn one other.

Illnesses linked to unsafe water

Thirty-five-year-old Neelam of Block G has spent a lot of the final six months unwell. She contracted dengue in early March and typhoid later in the summer time, each of which she attributes to contaminated water. She stays underneath remedy. The well being disaster has additionally affected her livelihood. 

Neelam rents out two rooms in her small home – one tenant left three months in the past attributable to a lack of secure ingesting water, costing her Rs 5,000 in misplaced earnings every month. The remaining tenant nonetheless pays Rs 3,000, however she can not discover anybody new prepared to maneuver in. Her husband, the one incomes member of the family, works as a cook dinner in a lodge and earns about Rs 20,000 a month. 

Her neighbour, Susheela, fetched a bucket from her kitchen to indicate guests. Dead bugs floated on the floor, and grime had settled on the backside. “This is actually cleaner than what we usually get,” she mentioned.

Illness is widespread. Apex Path Labs, a diagnostic clinic in Block F, confirmed that the newest instances it has dealt with are associated to abdomen and liver infections. Its workers defined that whereas dengue is rising throughout NCR and can’t be attributed solely to water contamination, sicknesses like diarrhoea, typhoid, and hepatitis in the colony are immediately linked to unsafe water circumstances.

Chemists corroborate this. Pritam, who runs a medical store in Block F, mentioned medicines for unfastened motions, liver illnesses, and hair fall had been now his fastest-selling merchandise. “Hair fall complaints have become common – people blame the water.”

Families spend closely simply to outlive. Neelam says she buys bottled water for Rs 150 daily, spending round Rs 4,500 a month. Another resident, Geeta of Block F, mentioned her two kids not often come dwelling from their hostel because of the poor circumstances. “It is not about distance – they don’t visit because there is no clean water here. We keep falling ill and cannot keep going to doctors every week,” she defined.

Her tenant, 38-year-old Samina Malik, confirmed medical stories from August confirming typhoid and a platelet rely properly under secure limits. Another girl, Meera from G-Block, mentioned she spends the identical Rs 150 a day for 4 20-litre water canisters for cooking and ingesting. For bathing and washing garments, she makes use of the faucet water, which has prompted rashes on her pores and skin and affected her two daughters, who lately wanted medical prescriptions for abdomen infections. Meera works round Rs 18,000 per 30 days working as a contractual builder. 

Bottled water gross sales have surged dramatically in Saraswati Enclave. Grocery shopkeeper Chadar Singh stories that roughly 30 clients purchase three–4 canisters (20 litres every) each day, consuming round 2,400 litres of water. Deepak, one other store proprietor, sees 60–70 clients each day buying 4–5 canisters, a complete of 6,000 to eight,000 litres. Raghu, who opened his retailer a month in the past, claimed 1,800 litres are bought each day at his outlet. These figures point out residents spend closely on purchased water, severely impacting family budgets already strained by medical bills and lack of rental earnings.

The disaster extends to disrupting training. A tuition trainer who teaches about 30 college students each day from 4 pm to five pm stories that solely 15 college students attend repeatedly due to waterlogging points, making commutes troublesome. Many college students have dropped out completely, with dad and mom seeing no worth in continued tuition when kids can not attend lessons persistently. Four college students interviewed echoed these sentiments, reporting difficulties in commuting attributable to persistent waterlogged streets. Children threat accidents whereas wading by means of flooded lanes.

Endless complaints, no resolution

The residents have sought redress for his or her grievances by means of a number of official channels since 2023. These embrace complaints to the MCG, the Haryana CM Window portal, and CPGRAMS. Official authorisations got here late to the colony: Saraswati Enclave Extension Part I (Block F) was authorised on October 5, 2023, and Extension Part II (Block G) on March 18 this yr.

However, the scenario in F Block has remained dire. As detailed by Jaaly Sharma, a resident of F-66, in a grievance letter dated August 29 addressed to the MCG Commissioner, the continual sewage blockages trigger foul water to again up into streets and houses from Shani Mandir Lane by means of to Swami Satyam Vyas’s home. Sharma described life as “extremely difficult and unsafe,” with even small quantities of sewer overflow flooding houses and forcing repeated requests for sanitation work. Despite submitting complaints to sanitation inspectors, employees, and junior MCG engineers, residents have seen no everlasting resolution.

Repeated complaints adopted: a letter signed by 43 residents on September 10 highlighted the mixed crises of overflowing sewage with human waste and contaminated ingesting water. Earlier, a grievance filed by means of the CM Window Haryana on July 22, 2024, was acknowledged however remained unresolved, and a letter signed by 95 residents had been submitted to the Chief Minister’s Office on July 8, 2024, referencing complaints filed since 2023.

CPGRAMS information present a grievance filed on May 20, 2025, by resident Gautam Kumar Maiti was closed on August 2, 2025, with an official word stating the colony was “unapproved for hiring of consultant for preparation of DPR,” that tendering processes had been ongoing, and non permanent water and sewer options utilizing bucket machines had been in place.

The timeline of grievance dealing with reveals sluggish development. After preliminary grievance registration by way of the CM Window on July 22, 2024, the matter escalated to the Chief Minister’s Office inside two days, additional reaching Urban Local Bodies’ Director cum Special Secretary and MCG Commissioner by July 25. EE Division-1A formally accepted duty on August 3, 2024, and offered an interim report on April 17, 2025, but the issue endured. Multiple reminders had been issued, first on May 11 and once more on June 25 this yr, demanding an Action Taken Report (ATR), with extra strain exerted on May 28 and July 4, 2025, by the Chief Minister’s Office and the Administrative Secretary to Urban Local Bodies.

Another grievance addressed to the Deputy Commissioner of Police on August 2, 2025, reiterated prior grievances and flagged ongoing inaction.

Technical enter from resident and engineer Gautam Kumar Maiti has formed a lot of the group’s calls for. Writing to the Chief Minister’s Office on July 18, 2024, Maiti highlighted the central thoroughfare of Block F, together with lanes close to Shani Dev Mandir and Shakti Mandir, the place outdated sewer traces are chronically blocked throughout rains. He identified that solely 60 mm home sewer traces had been put in, inflicting blockages and overflows. Maiti demanded a rise in sewer manhole cowl sizes to 90 mm and the laying of MCG customary HDPE 3P traces with EH35 customary manhole covers. He additionally known as for upgrading water traces, noting that the at the moment put in 20mm diameter water pipes don’t meet IS:1839 requirements for ingesting water transmission and that pipes permitting repeated use at 100mm diameter had been wanted.

Protest and name for accountability

Maiti, with 25 years of engineering expertise and a resident on the forefront of the September 10 protest, mentioned, “A population survey is needed to calculate appropriate pipe diameters. A topographic survey comparing land elevation to water sources is necessary to set proper transmission line levels. MCG engineers visit and observe briefly, then leave. Contractors focus only on payments and ignore engineering requirements.” He supplied to help MCG’s design and engineering models throughout protest negotiations.

MCG Commissioner Pradeep Dahiya assured residents of motion inside two days. When Newslaundry sought particulars, the MCG Public Relations Officer responded stating that a resolution was being labored on. When pressed for timelines, the spokesperson deferred, suggesting residents be requested concerning the timelines communicated, and quickly disconnected the decision, stating they had been engaged in one other programme.

Newslaundry reached out to 2 government engineers, Pradeep Kumar and Sandeep Kumar, and assistant engineer Dalip Singh, who declined to remark, insisting we solely discuss to MCG Commissioner Dahiya.

Newslaundry has despatched inquiries to the MCG Commissioner. This report will likely be up to date if a response is acquired.

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