Gurgaon
Gurgaon (Hindi: [ɡʊɽɡãːw]), officially named Gurugram ([ɡʊɾʊɡɾaːm]), is a satellite city and administrative headquarters of Gurgaon district, located in the northern Indian state of Haryana.[6] It is situated near the Delhi–Haryana border, about 30 kilometres (19 mi) southwest of the national capital New Delhi and 268 km (167 mi) south of Chandigarh, the state capital.[7] It is one of the major satellite cities of Delhi and is part of the National Capital Region of India.[8] As of 2011, Gurgaon had a population of 876,969.[2][4]
For other uses, see Gurgaon (disambiguation).
Gurgaon is India's second largest information technology hub and third largest financial and banking hub.[9][10] Gurgaon is also home to one of India's largest medical tourism industries.[11] Despite being India's 56th largest city in terms of population, Gurgaon is the 8th largest city in the country in terms of total wealth.[12] Gurgaon serves as the headquarters of many of India's largest companies, is home to thousands of startup companies and has local offices for more than 250 Fortune 500 companies.[13] It accounts for almost 70% of the total annual economic investments in Haryana state, which has helped it become a leading hub for high-tech industry in northern India.[14] Gurgaon is categorised as very high on the Human Development Index, with an HDI of 0.889 (2017).[15]
Gurgaon's economic growth started in the 1970s when Maruti Suzuki India Limited established a manufacturing plant and gathered pace after General Electric established its business outsourcing operations in the city in collaboration with real-estate firm DLF.[16][17] New Gurgaon, Manesar and Sohna serve as adjoining manufacturing and upcoming real estate hubs for Gurgaon. Despite rapid economic and population growth, Gurgaon continues to battle socio-economic issues, such as high-income inequality and high air pollution.[18][19] It also has a flood problem due to the limited drainage capacity.[20]
Law and government
Gurgaon is governed by the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram which follows a Mayor-Council system.[65] In 2017, the GMDA (Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority) was formed, which looks after the city's infrastructure.
Transport
Roadways
The major highway that links Gurgaon is National Highway 48, the road that runs from Delhi to Mumbai. While the 27.7-kilometre (17.2 mi) Delhi-Gurgaon border-Kherki Dhaula stretch has been developed as the Delhi–Gurgaon Expressway, the rest is expanded to six lanes.[72]
Utilities
Electricity in Gurgaon is provided by government-owned Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam. Gurgaon has power consumer base of 360,000 with average power load of 700-800 MW.[79] There are frequent power outages in the city, especially during the peak consumption season of summer. Apart from the power deficit, the equipment used by the power department like transformers, panels and transmission lines is either old or overburdened.[80]
Issues
Flooding
Gurgaon is notorious for its urban floods every monsoon.[81] The areas on NH-8 around Hero Honda Chowk, Basai, Dhankot, sector 37 etc. see massive urban floods and headlines grabbing traffic jams reported widely in news media. A recent research report puts the blame on the broken natural water body linkage and obstructions in the flow in the city due to frantic construction during the last decades.[43] The HUDA master drainage lines get choked or burst at the seams. Disruptions in the hydrological flow of natural drains and limited drainage capacity are all primary reasons for the floods.[20]
Gurgaon's Ghata Jheel, Badshahpur Jheel, Khandsa Talab were linked to Najafgarh drain which links to Yamuna river, via natural water channels and drains.[43]
As per the ground reports and research, the three natural water bodies are struggling for their existence with encroachments on their lands and natural channels. Agencies responsible have tried to create artificial water bodies to compensate, but the efforts fail due to unpredictable rain and water flow patterns leading to deployment of water pumps to fight the situation.[82]
In 2012 Punjab & Haryana High court banned ground water usage for construction activity,[83] and NGT has recently reprimanded authorities for drain concretisation.[84]