Why does Noida handle heavy rain better than the ‘Millennium City’?

NOIDA/GURUGRAM: On Wednesday morning, as people in Gurugram stared at parts of their city turning into a lake, people in Noida reported little inconvenience. The situation was not entirely trouble-free there -- water accumulated at the foot of flyovers and access/exit ramps to the DND -but it was nowhere near like the situation in Gurugram, where commuters swam to safety as their cars sank and rescue teams patrolled on rafts looking for anyone marooned.

The contrast is explained by how the two cities were planned. The Uttar Pradesh government set up the New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (Noida) in 1976 to develop a planned township on the state’s border with the national Capital. The objective was to blueprint an integrated, modern city with all provisions required for an urban space.

On the other hand, Gurugram did not have a metropolitan development authority till 2017 and a municipal corporation till 2007. It had, although, begun finishing its first housing projects in the 1980s.

On Wednesday, when 70mm of rain poured down on Noida and 118mm on Gurugram, this difference manifested itself in waterlogged roads, flooded homes and serpentine traffic jams that were seen in one city, but not the other.

“Noida is a planned city while Gurugram was developed in isolation. In Gurugram, a developer buys 100 acres or 500 acres from a farmer, develops a township, lays infrastructure inside the township and empties rain water outside the campus. It was a piecemeal approach,” said SC Gaur, chief coordinator and planner with the UP national capital region cell, explaining the contrast between the two cities.

“In Noida, the authority develops roads, drainage network and other civic infrastructure before allotting the land to a developer,” Gaur said.

Rajvir Singh, former chief town planner, Haryana, who is now a consultant, said urban planning failed on many counts in Gurugram. “Initially, when the development plan for the city was being prepared, it was pointed out that natural drains and dams should not be disturbed. However, real estate development was allowed in a haphazard manner. Also, despite a master plan for the city, the civic infrastructure in the city is still catching up with the urban growth,” said Singh.

Experts pointed out that flooding during monsoon is also because of the difference between the topography of the two cities.

“Noida is surrounded by Yamuna and Hindon and is located on plains, where stormwater drains empties out in the two rivers. Also, the city has a planned drainage system. Gurugram, on the other hand, is a hilly terrain with a poor gradient. Moreover, with natural drains being encroached upon in many places, stormwater floods on the city roads,” said professor Dr Gauhar Mehmood of the department of civil engineering, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi. Mehmood worked with Gurugram MC and helped set up water conservation structures in 2010-11.