According to experts, the pollution level in water and air has been rising at an alarming rate even as the administration seems to be least bothered about tackling groundwater depletion.

Senior environmental engineer, Haryana Pollution Control Board (HPCB), Panchkula, SP Rathee, said that major reasons of soil and water pollution in Gurgaon are domestic waste.

“Water pollution is a major concern in Gurgaon and domestic waste contributes at least 70% of the total water pollution,”Rathee said, adding that vehicular emission is the main reason of air pollution.

He said the city has only a few polluting industries, which amount to not more than five to ten per cent of the total polluting agents.

Shortage of electricity also plays a major role in increasing air pollution. According to a study by two students of Great Lakes Institute of Energy Management and Research, two-third of city’s power demand is met by diesel generator sets. The study also found that power demand has been increasing at the rate of at least 15% every year.

Rajesh Garhia, environmental scientist, HPCB, said that diesel generator (DG) sets add to noise and air pollution.

“There is heavy dependence on DG sets in Gurgaon due to power shortage. This has led to more troubles for the environment”, he said.

Various climate conservation efforts fail to bring results due to inefficient waste management system, thanks to multiplicity of authorities here.

A study carried out by NGO Gurgaon First, the city doubles its waste every three years. Shubhra Puri, founder of Gurgaon First, said that this is a conservative projection and the actual amount of waste produced in the city could be much more.

E-waste is quickly becoming one of the major categories of waste produced in the city along with construction, demolition and biomedical waste, she added.According to Garhia, mobile phones and computers are a major part of the e-waste generated in the city.

“There is no designated site for disposing construction waste in Gurgaon while neighbouring Delhi has 70 such sites. Such waste is disposed in pits which pollute ground water after certain level of accumulation,” Puri said.

Besides, treatment of sewage water is also a big challenge for the administration. The Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) has recently approved the expansion of the two sewage treatment plants functioning in the city. The plants in Dhanwapur and Behrampur have a combined capacity of treating 118 MLD of water daily. Now, their capacity is to be increased to 220 MLD.