MCG notice: illegal ramps, sheds worsen flooding

GURUGRAM: The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) on Friday, 21 August 2026, issued a public notice warning that unauthorised ramps on public roads reduce carriageway width, obstruct traffic and, in many instances, cause waterlogging—problems thrown into sharp relief after about 97 mm of rain on 7 August 2026 flooded arterial stretches. The notice also targets tin sheds, khokhas and kiosks on green belts, hawker encroachments, and illegal Online Building Plan Scrutiny (OBPS) approvals on sub-divided or converted commercial land without required setbacks, parking or no-objection certificates.

MCG and the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) have identified 155 waterlogging hotspots this season. Zone VI, covering DLF and adjoining areas, is the worst with 30 points, followed by Old Gurugram with 28. Sheetla Mata Road has been flagged as a particular flashpoint. Officials have separately linked more than 70 per cent of hotspots to illegal stilt-plus-four and stilt-plus-five constructions that alter drainage paths and reduce open ground for runoff.

Enforcement costs and Supreme Court reference

The corporation has made clear that enforcement costs can be recovered from violators. The notice cites Supreme Court directions in Loganathan v. State of Tamil Nadu (SLP (C) 8044/2025) as part of the legal backdrop for action against constructions and encroachments that compromise public roads and drains. Civic bodies’ drainage-related spending is cited at roughly ₹450–500 crore annually—an outlay that officials juxtapose against preventable waterlogging caused by illegal ramps and roadside structures.

Unauthorised ramps typically jut from private plots onto public right of way, shrinking the effective carriageway and creating local dips where stormwater pools. Tin sheds and khokhas on green belts occupy spaces meant for percolation or landscaped buffers, while hawker encroachments further choke kerbside flow lines. On the building-permission side, the notice’s focus on illegal OBPS clearances for sub-divided or converted commercial plots without setbacks, parking or NOCs points to a paper trail that MCG says it will pursue alongside physical removal drives.

The 7 August spell of about 97 mm remains the immediate weather marker for this season’s flooding narrative. That single day’s rain inundated arterials and fed the hotspot mapping exercise that now lists 155 locations. Zone VI’s 30 spots and Old Gurugram’s 28 show that both premium and older neighbourhoods share the problem, while Sheetla Mata Road’s repeated mention marks it as a corridor where carriageway loss and drainage failure coincide. MCG’s 21 August notice puts recovery of clearance costs and the Loganathan SLP (C) 8044/2025 directions on the same enforcement footing as ramp and shed removal across the 155 mapped hotspots.