Gurugram News: IAS officers transferred in Haryana after monsoon chaos amid worsening AQI; who are they | Today’s news

Haryana on Tuesday reshuffled the leadership of two key civic bodies in Gurugram by reassigning the chief executive of the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) and the commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) in a wider administrative reshuffle involving 14 IAS and HCS officers.

The changes come months after heavy monsoon waterlogging brought Gurugram to a standstill, leaving school buses carrying children stranded on flooded roads and amid deteriorating air quality in Delhi-NCR. The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has also invoked Phase III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) across the region.

According to a Haryana government order dated November 10, Phool Chand Meena, a 2004-batch IAS officer who headed GMDA and Faridabad Metropolitan Development Authority (FMDA), has been transferred to the posts of commissioner and secretary in the state’s human resources and general administration departments.

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Dusmanta Kumar Behera, a 2007 batch IAS officer, replaced Meena as the CEO of Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority and Faridabad Metropolitan Development Authority.

Pankaj, a 2020 batch IAS officer who was Panipat Municipal Commissioner, has taken over as MCG Commissioner and Gurugram District Municipal Commissioner.

This was followed by severe waterlogging in August that disrupted traffic and left school buses carrying children stranded for hours. The flooding also raised concerns about sewer infrastructure and liability.

Phase III includes restrictions on non-essential construction and demolition along with measures from earlier GRAP phases. CAQM also called for measures to control dust.

NISE Gwal Pahari recorded an AQI of 359 around 5:00 AM. An AQI between 301 and 400 falls into the “very poor” category.

Dusmanta Kumar Behera, a 2007 batch IAS head who has held these two departmental posts, will replace Meena as both GMDA and FMDA director generals.

In the MCG, Commissioner Pradeep Dahiya has been transferred as Executive Director of Haryana State Cooperative Sugar Mills Federation and Director of State Audit Department. Pankaj, a 2020 batch IAS officer who was serving as Municipal Commissioner of Panipat, has taken over as the new MCG Commissioner and District Municipal Commissioner of Gurugram.

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Mohd Imran Raza has been appointed as GMDA’s next CEO, while Ankita Choudhary has been shifted from MCG to take charge of Panipat city. The realignment also includes changes in other IAS and HCS accounting.

Why Gurugram’s civic change is taking center stage after monsoon mayhem

The transfers come after the city reportedly failed to cope with heavy monsoon rains in August. On August 24, intense downpours flooded several major roads, underpasses and residential areas, disrupting traffic and leaving school children stranded on buses for hours.

Gurugram recorded around 75 mm of rainfall between 8 am and 5 pm that day, according to district administration data. Subhash Chowk was among the worst affected localities with school buses stuck in waterlogging and traffic jams.

On August 25, hundreds of schoolchildren remained on buses for hours. Parents scrambled to reach them as flooded roads and snarling traffic blocked access to several areas. The district administration subsequently invoked the Disaster Management Act and issued a standard operating procedure (SOP) to regulate school traffic during heavy rains.

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During the August waterlogging, 14 school buses were left stranded for up to six hours. Children were inside the buses as water pooled around the vehicles.

The flooding also raised questions about sewer infrastructure and liability.

On 8 September, Union Minister of State and MP for Gurugram Rao Inderjit Singh wrote to Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini to investigate the waterlogging. According to ThePrint, he expressed concern over encroachment on natural drains and the lack of action despite notices issued to builders.

A senior Haryana government official told ThePrint that the transfers were part of a routine process and should not be understood to have any specific meaning.

Gurugram AQI Amid GRAP Phase III Restrictions

The administrative changes also come as air pollution remains a major concern across Delhi-NCR. On November 12, Delhi recorded an average AQI of 321 at 7 am, placing it in the “very poor” category, according to CPCB data. Gurugram also reported elevated pollution levels, with NISE Gwal Pahari recording an AQI of 359 around 5 a.m., according to the data.

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CAQM triggered III. grade GRAP across Delhi-NCR on November 6 after the daily average AQI in Delhi reached 382. The commission said forecasts by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology indicated that air quality was likely to deteriorate to the “severe” category.

Phase III measures include restrictions on non-essential construction and demolition activities along with measures in earlier phases. The CAQM also called for measures to control dust and urged citizens to follow its recommendations.