Gurgaon hits brakes again as 4-hour rain causes waterlogging on key roads

GURGAON: A four-hour spell of rain in the early hours of Thursday brought traffic to a crawl across the city, flooding key stretches and inundating colonies as drains overflowed.
Officegoers said they were stuck in bumper-to-bumper jams and covered small distances in over an hour. Among the areas that went under water were service lanes along the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway in Narsinghpur, Basai, Rajiv Chowk, Shivaji Nagar, CPR-SPR junction, Old Jail Road and Khandsa.
“My drive to the office in Sector 18 usually takes less than 35 minutes from my home.But on Thursday, traffic was extremely slow from cloverleaf intersection to Hero Honda Chowk and Rajiv Chowk to MDI College. It took me 60 minutes today. Waterlogging is a recurring issue every time it rains,” said Nupur Kathuria, who lives in Sector 83.
Pedestrians were spotted wading through knee-deep waters in Narsinghpur. Some vehicles broke down, disrupting traffic. Those who managed to stay at home also complained about waterlogging in residential colonies.
A GMDA official told TOI that its flood control centre received 61 complaints about waterlogging due to drain or sewer line overflows on Thursday.
“SPR-CPR junction and Vatika Chowk, both junctions connecting the Southern Peripheral Road to NH8, are damaged due to waterlogging. This caused massive traffic jams and it took at least half an hour to cross these areas. Small cars are getting damaged due to poor visibility in flooded areas,” Dhirendra Kumar, a resident of Mount Ville in Sector 79.
Parts of the ‘Millennium City’ go under water every year without a break. This year was no different, with the city’s first spell of monsoon showers last week flooding Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway, patches of Sohna Road, Golf Course Road, Essel Towers, Leisure Valley and Bhondsi, among other areas.
On Thursday, Subhash Chowk, Medanta Hospital, Mayfield, Sector 23 and Kanhai managed to avert waterlogging as skies cleared up in the morning.
“We deployed tractor-mounted pumps for quick disposal of water apart from permanent pumps. This includes Rajiv Chowk to address waterlogging on the court side, Hero Honda Chowk on the Khandsa side, SPR (Sector 75) and Narsinghpur. Cleaning of road gullies and removal of debris at the drainage chute were undertaken for speedy water disposal as well,” a senior GMDA official said.
A spokesperson for the traffic police said that there were no major jams though vehicular movement was slower than usual. “Our officers have been diligently managing traffic. Also, we have prepared for monsoon by stocking tar and concrete mixture bags and filling potholes to minimise delays and ensure smooth traffic flow,” the spokesperson said.
GMDA has been constructing a masterdrain between Vatika Chowk and NH-8 along SPR with a planned deadline of Oct this year. But the project, which is meant to clear stormwater in the city, is progressing at snail's pace.