Aftermath of the rain: Potholes, water logging cause traffic jams in Gurugram

Traffic police said their repeated requests to civil agencies have not yielded any results and the situation has worsened in the last four days due to continuous rain

Traffic congestion was reported from at least five key stretches on Monday due to water logging and potholed roads that require urgent repairs--predicaments left behind after the intense spell of rainfall for the last four days--police said.

Vehicles stuck in a traffic jam on Delhi-Gurugram Expressway after heavy rain on Monday. (ANI)

Commuters were stuck for at least half-an-hour on Golf Course Extension Road, Southern Peripheral Road (SPR), Kherki Daula, Rampura Crossing and Manesar on Monday during peak hours, police said, adding traffic on Sohna Road was the worst hit.Waterlogged stretches such as Golf Course Extension Road, Sector 10, Sheetla Mata Road in Sector 5, Basai Road, Pataudi Road, Narsinhgpur stretch on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway, Manesar and Rampura crossing added to commuters’ woes.

Meanwhile, traffic police said their repeated requests to civil agencies have not yielded any results and the situation has worsened in the last four days due to continuous rain.

According to deputy commissioner of police (traffic) Virender Singh Sangwan, several roads across the city witnessed snarls on Monday due to potholes and water logging. “Being a Monday, we had deployed personnel at all major stretches, including the expressway, but commuters faced difficulties on Golf Course Road and SPR due to the large number of potholes. We have been writing to all agencies and have highlighted these issues during our monthly meetings with them, but the situation remains the same,” he said.

Sangwan said police teams, apart from managing traffic across the city, have been actively filling potholes to help decongest major key roads. “Several commuters have been injured and many vehicles damaged due to the potholes. We had deployed more than 1,000 police personnel at all key points on Monday to help commuters cross these stretches safely,” he said.

Police also said their personnel worked to remove excess water from potholed roads using motors to ensure commuters could cross easily on Monday.

Residents, meanwhile, also said they were dissatisfied by the apathetic attitude of the agencies concerned.

Ankhi Banerjee, a resident of Sector 66 and a daily commuter to Manesar, said that it takes her more than 40 minutes to cross Golf Course Extension Road and SPR due to the condition of the roads--the drive should ideally not take longer than 10 minutes. “There was a lot of traffic on Monday and vehicles were stuck on the SPR turn towards Kherki Daula due to several big potholes. People were driving on the wrong side of the road to avoid potholes and that led to congestion during peak hours on Monday. There are over 100 potholes on a 2km stretch, and despite accidents taking place everyday, we see no difference,” she said.

Kamlesh Chand, a resident of Sector 71, said that it took more than an hour to reach Manesar from Gurugram and back on Monday morning and evening--a distance that should ideally take 20 minutes each way. “The construction work on the stretch is never-ending and there is no respite. The authorities should have re-carpeted the roads before the rain. The situation just worsened on Monday. The potholes have even grown bigger after the rain,” he said.

Authorities, meanwhile, said the repair work was an ongoing process.

“A lot of road repair work has been carried out on these stretches and potholes have been filled. It’s an ongoing process and we will initiate further repair work once the rain subsides. The SPR is to undergo major upgradation and bids have already been invited for this project,” Amit Godara, executive engineer of Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority said.