Armed With Smog Guns, Upscale Gurugram Societies Fight Toxic Air On Their Own

Residents of high-end housing societies in Gurugram are spending lakhs of rupees to clean the air in their open spaces, as government measures have apparently not been enough to control the city's worsening pollution. Some societies have put anti-smog guns on the roofs of high-rise towers. Others have set up sprinkler systems to spray water on roads, parks and green belts. A few have also brought in tanker-trucks to sprinkle water. Residents had already fitted air purifiers inside their homes.

Shailja Bhatia, a resident of Central Park Resorts, said Gurugram is counted among the country's most developed cities and brings in large revenue for the government. Despite this, she said, residents still struggle for basic amenities. "Even after spending crores of rupees on a flat, we are not getting good roads or clean air," Bhatia said.

"A person puts their entire life's earnings into buying a good home. If they still cannot breathe clean air after moving in, it is extremely disappointing," she added.

Residents such as Shailja Bhatia say governments have not done enough to control pollution in Gurugram. Photos: NDTV

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Bhatia further said the government and administration had remained "mute spectators" to the problem. That has made society residents install anti-smog guns and water sprinklers on rooftops to protect themselves, according to her. "If society residents can make such arrangements on their own, why can't the administration take concrete steps for the whole city?" she asked.

Resident welfare associations (RWAs) and builders of several large societies, from Sohna Road to Golf Course Extension Road, have installed anti-smog machines, water sprinklers and dust-suppression equipment.

Rising Homes RWA chief Praveen Malik said the society spent about Rs 2.5 lakh on a sprinkler system. Photo: NDTV

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Rising Homes society in Sector 92 is one of them. Flats there cost Rs 5 crore to Rs 7 crore, and residents started their own anti-pollution measures around four years ago. Here, RWA president Praveen Malik said the society acted on its own because the government was not doing enough to curb pollution throughout the year. The society spent about Rs 2.5 lakh to connect its sewage treatment plant (STP) to a sprinkler system, which sprays treated water on the green belt and nearby open areas.

Malik said staff work in shifts to spray water, between 10 am and 8 pm. After pollution rose following Diwali, the RWA added two more hours of spraying each day.

Malik said lakhs of litres of rainwater go to waste in the Manesar Municipal Corporation area during the monsoon. That water could be used for heat relief in the summer and to cut down dust and smog in the winter, he suggested.

Meanwhile, the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) has sealed five construction sites in Gurugram for flouting dust-control norms. Three of them are in Udyog Vihar. Officials are also checking construction sites for barricading, dust screens, covered building material, and other dust-containment measures. Sites where construction has been halted under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) are being monitored too. Security teams have been told to watch for littering on roads, debris being carried uncovered, and open burning of waste, officials said.

(With inputs by Manoj Kumar Vashistha)