GMDA Plans Rs 5.88 Cr Drain Monitoring

GURUGRAM: The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority has prepared a Rs 5.88 crore plan to install flow meters, surveillance cameras and online water-quality analysers on the city's primary stormwater drains so that untreated sewage and industrial effluent entering the Yamuna can be traced to specific catchments.

According to the tender document released by GMDA's stormwater drainage wing, the selected contractor will install and commission the equipment within three months, followed by five years of operation and maintenance. The project covers Master Storm Water Drain Legs I, II, III and IV, along with the Manesar Drain, and is targeted for completion by January next year.

What will be installed

The authority plans 10 non-contact radar level sensors with surface velocity sensors, 10 solar power systems and 10 pan-tilt-zoom cameras with 40-day cloud backup. Six online analysers will give real-time readings of biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids and pH. Data are to be integrated with the GMDA command system and the Haryana State Pollution Control Board portal through application programming interfaces.

The move follows National Green Tribunal directions restricting untreated discharge into the Yamuna. HSPCB estimates in April showed nearly 150 million litres a day of untreated municipal sewage and toxic industrial effluent entering the river from the district. The tribunal subsequently directed the Haryana chief secretary to formulate immediate interventions.

A senior GMDA official said the automated devices would allow the authority to map wastewater volumes entering the drains and to identify catchment clusters or industrial belts responsible for high pollutant loads. Once baseline telemetry is available, GMDA, working with the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram, Municipal Corporation of Manesar, Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran and HSIIDC, intends to act against erring units and illicit sewer connections.

Officials said the meters and analysers will sit at critical intercept points. After a high-load segment is flagged, teams are expected to walk the network upstream toward specific sewer connections, industrial units or sewage treatment plants. The same sensors are also meant to flag blockages early so that mobile pumps can be deployed before low-lying intersections flood.

For a city whose master drains have repeatedly shown elevated biochemical oxygen demand and faecal coliform readings, the tender is a monitoring project rather than a treatment upgrade. Whether it reduces illegal discharge will depend on how quickly field teams act on the alerts once the system goes live.

Master Legs I to IV and the Manesar Drain are the same corridors that carry mixed stormwater and sewage toward the Yamuna during dry weather and monsoon alike. Installing radar sensors and online analysers will not by itself stop illicit sewer taps, but it can shorten the time between a pollution spike and a field visit. Residents living near chronic foul-smell stretches will judge the project on whether identified clusters see sealing of illegal connections and tighter STP outlet checks within the first season of data.

The three-month installation window and five-year maintenance clause also matter for continuity. Earlier civic gadgets have sometimes gone dark after warranty periods when spare parts and SIM data plans were not renewed. GMDA's tender ties O and M to the same contractor, which may reduce that risk if payments stay on schedule.