Arterial stretches flooded, residents marooned in condos, societies

Stretches leading to Galleria Market, MG Road, Sushant Lok-1, South City-2, sectors 3, 5 and 6, and Suncity, among others, were rendered unusable as water accumulated to a waist-high level and started entering residences

A heavy spell of rain on Wednesday morning did not just impact underpasses and major roads but also left several arterial roads and low-lying areas underwater. Stretches leading to Galleria Market, MG Road, Sushant Lok-1, South City-2, sectors 3, 5 and 6, and Suncity, among others, were rendered unusable as water accumulated to a waist-high level and started entering residences.

Opposite the Galleria Market in DLF Phase 4, a stretch leading towards the camera museum was cordoned off completely due to heavy waterlogging. MCG workers blocked the entrance to the stretch, located on an incline, with sandbags and mud. (Vipin Kumar/HT PHOTO)

The flooding of arterial and internal roads has been a regular occurrence this year. Officials of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) attributed this to a change in monsoon preparedness plans caused by the second Covid-19 wave.

Opposite the Galleria Market in DLF Phase 4, a stretch leading towards the camera museum was cordoned off completely due to heavy waterlogging. MCG workers blocked the entrance to the stretch, located on an incline, with sandbags and mud, as rainwater from the Hamilton Court Road flowed towards the lower-lying areas of DLF Phase 4, Sector 28 and Chakkarpur village.

With the help of tractor-mounted motor pumps, MCG workers channelled the rainwater from the camera museum stretch to the Hamilton Court, and directed it towards the nearest drain outlet.

“Before the path to the sector was blocked by MCG workers, rainwater entered several ground-floor houses nearby and the level of rainwater kept rising. Our entire furniture was soaked and so were a few electrical appliances. We kept draining out rainwater from our home, with mops and buckets, but the water level was too much to handle,” said Mohit Saini, a resident of Sector 28.

Residents of Suncity, South City-2 and Sushant Lok-1 also complained of waterlogging in residences.

“By noon, such was the extent of waterlogging inside my house that I had to shift my elderly parents to a relative’s house nearby. I had to turn off the main power, fearing electrocution, and voluntarily stayed without power for nearly three hours. From 2pm, once the moderate rains were reduced to a drizzle, the rainwater started to recede. It was only around 4pm that I was able to completely clear rainwater from my home,” said Sidhant Chawla, a resident of South City-2.

On the Mehrauli-Gurgaon (MG) Road, the entrance to Essel Towers was completely flooded residents, restricting residents to their homes.“The entrance of our colony is located on a slope. All the rainwater from the direction of Iffco Chowk and MG Road Metro station started flowing towards it due to which there is persistently high accumulation of rainwater. A truck tried to make its way to the colony but stalled midway due to the rainwater. Until motor pumps were able to drain out rainwater by later afternoon, I was stuck at home,” said Manish Sinha, a resident of the condominium.

Sinha said although the entrance was flooded sporadically during previous monsoons, it has become a regular occurrence this year.

MCG officials said that this year, waterlogging on arterial roads has been more severe than usual due to a change in their monsoon preparedness strategy.

“Till May-end, MCG workers were all caught up with the second Covid-19 wave. At the time, the monsoon was forecast to hit the city by June 12. Our priority was, hence, to clean up drains and set up temporary counter waterlogging measures at stretches that have a high volume of traffic. We prioritised high-density stretches rather than internal residential areas due to the short time period,” a senior MCG official, who did not wish to be named, said.

The official cited above said that although monsoon only arrived in the city over two weeks ago, the uncertainty with its timeline meant that the MCG did not alter its strategy.