Gurgaon/ Gurugram
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Bandhs
Jharsabandh
The Times of India, Oct 26 2015 Sharad Kohli
In Gurgaon's concrete jungle, an oasis reared by its people
The Jharsabaandh, which occupies an expanse of around 5km in the middle of town, is one of around 15 baandhs in the city, many of them calling out for urgent restoration.This is a protected forest, with Sector 15 (Part I) on one side and Civil Lines and Officers Colony on the other. Earlier, HUDA was in charge of the baandh's upkeep. From March 2015, the MCG took over. In association with the city agencies, residents here have been looking after the baandh for many years -for example, by getting a sprinkler system installed to ensure a generous cover of grass. The baandh was all jungle back in 2000.“People were scared of buying a plot here.“ Now, a lit footpath allows walkers fresh air and exercise in the mornings and evenings.But pigs and monkeys are a menace, as are litterbugs and encroachers. Otherwise, the baandh is a quiet place. There is here a preponderance of kikar and the messy `papdi' tree, which has a habit of shedding leaves in every season.But one can also get to see the `kaner' shrub, with its red and yellow flowers, the ficus tree and some palms (and also the odd ashoka).
Name
2016: Respelling Gurgaon as Gurugram
The Times of India, Apr 13 2016
Gurugrammar logic is based on mythology
RaoJaswantSingh
The logic used to change Gurgaon's name to Gurugram is questionable.
Noted historian KC Yadav told TOI it is very difficult to give a stamp of approval on the state government's theory that the city was the land of Guru Dronacharya. He said there are actually two theories behind Gurgaon's name, but none could be verified as there is no contemporary material available.
“As per one theory , the (village) land was given to Guru Dronacharya and therefore it got its name as Gurugram (guru's village) and the second theory is that nomads used to hoard jaggery (gur) in the village in order to survive hard times during floods in the adjoining Yamuna river,“ said Yadav, who specialises in the history of Haryana.
Early mention of Gurgaon comes during the 1857 revolt when people of Gurgaon extended support to Bahadur Shah Zafar; Even during Akbar's reign, Badshapur and Jharsa were more important than Gurgaon as it was not even an administrative unit, according to him. “Gurgaon became known due to Sheetla Mata temple and a small ammunition de pot, but as far as its historical importance is concerned, there are no verifiable facts and only based on traditions,“ Yadav said.
Gurgaon MP Rao Inderjit Singh, who is a descendant of freedom fighter Rao Tula Ram of India's 1st war of independence in 1857, also said it is not known as when the city became Gurgaon from Gurugram. “During British rule, it was called as Gurgaon and it was the corrupt form of Gurugram, but no exact dates are available in this regard,“ he added.
The Manohar Lal Khattar government renamed Gurgaon as Gurugram and adjoining Mewat as Nuh, saying Haryana is a historic land of the Bhagwad Gita and Gurgaon had been a centre of learning since the times of Guru Dronacharya, the teacher of the Pandavas and Kauravas in the Mahabharata.
Changed to Gurugram: Official
It's official. Ggn is now Gurugram, Sukhbir Siwach, Nov 05 2016 : The Times of India
Gurgaon is now officially Gurugram. The Haryana government on 4 Nov 2016 issued a formal notification on the name change, the final step in changing the city's identity.“
The governor of Haryana is pleased to change the name of Gurgaon as Gurugram in Haryana ...,“ mentioned the notification issued by additional chief secretary (revenue) Kesni Anand Arora. The city will be referred to as Gurugram in all government and official records henceforth.
Soon after issuing the notification, the authorities also sent a copy of the document to Gurgaon deputy commissioner TL Satyaprakash, The deputy commissioner has been also asked to take immediate steps to change the name in official records.
Power/ electricity
14% comes from diesel gensets
The Times of India Dec 21 2015
Bagish Jha
Gurgaon
The summer of 2016 is likely to be crueller than its predecessor, but may prove kinder on power cuts if the government keeps its word.
Faced with the sobering statistic that nearly 14% of powerguzzling New Gurgaon's electricity load is borne by diesel gensets because of outages, the administration has prepared an action plan to reduce dependence on backup power within the next six months.
“In the next six months, we are trying to make areas like DLF phases 1 to 5 and Sushant Lok I, which use the most generators, free from power cuts by improving infrastructure under the zero-outage project,“ said Vinay Pratap Singh, additio nal deputy commissioner and special officer of the project.
He said the government is concerned about increasing air pollution in Gurgaon.Singh said curbs on use of generators would be imposed if the government can guarantee little or no outages. Singh admitted power infrastructure in New Gurgaon, most of which has been privately developed, is weak, forcing RWAs to buy gensets to deal with blackouts. Cutting down outages will certainly help reduce air pollution as gensets produce around 80.75MW power on an average daily in New Gurgaon alone, according to the power department. The av erage daily power shortfall in the area is around 103MW .
A 2013 Central Pollution Control Board study had found that diesel generators contribute 6% of PM 2.5 particles and 10% of PM 10 particles in Delhi and its neighbouring cities.
Environmentalist Jitendra Bhadana said, “Today , most commercial or residential facilities in the city own diesel generators. Its use has gone up in recent times due to frequent power cuts, thereby further polluting the environment.“
District pollution officer, Balraj Singh said, “Carbon emission in Gurgaon is high mainly due to the use of diesel for power backup. Diesel emits carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrous oxide and particulate matter.“
