Water logging slows down traffic in Gurugram

According to India Meteorological Department (IMD), 21.5mm rainfall was recorded in Gurugram between 8.30am to 5.30pm on Wednesday

Continuous rainfall led to waterlogging in several parts of Gurugram on Wednesday. Traffic congestion was reported from several key stretches, including Hero Honda Chowk and Rajiv Chowk, due to waterlogging.

Vehicles wade through a waterlogged stretch between Khandsa to Narsingpur village in rain on the NH-48 service road near Shani Mandir, in Gurugram on Wednesday. (Parveen Kumar/HT)

Police and Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) teams were present at key areas to remove excess water through pumps to help traffic movement.

According to India Meteorological Department (IMD), 21.5mm rainfall was recorded in Gurugram between 8.30am to 5.30pm on Wednesday. They said that rain may continue till Sunday at isolated places in Gurugram and neighbouring areas, along with thunderstorms and lightning. On Wednesday, Gurugram’s maximum temperature was 31.1°C while the minimum was 20.6°C, officials said.

Waterlogging was reported from major key areas such as Golf Course Road, Golf Course Extension Road, Vatika Chowk, Kherki Daula, Iffco Chowk, Sector 10, Sector 51, Hero Honda Chowk, Subhash Chowk, Sheetla Mata Road in Sector 5, Basai Road, and Narsingpur stretch on the Expressway.

Virender Vij, deputy commissioner of police (traffic), Gurugram, said rain caused traffic snarl on the Gurugram-Delhi carriageway of NH-48.

“The problem was actually near Kapashera in Delhi but vehicular pressure resulted in a snarl up to Shankar Chowk on the national highway in the city,” he said.

Vij said that waterlogging near the construction spot on the national highway near Kapashera had resulted in the congestion. Traffic movement in the rest of the city was largely normal.

PC Meena, CEO of GMDA, said that alongside civic agencies, they used motors to remove water to ensure commuters faced no problem.

“Teams are on standby to address any issue. Minor waterlogging was reported in service lanes of Hero Honda Chowk and Narsingpur. Traffic movement was normal. Necessary measures will be taken if the rain intensifies,” he said.

Meena said they had already announced setting up of a flood control office to prevent waterlogging during the monsoon months. “We will also depute personnel at critical locations and deploy both movable and permanent pumps, including suction tankers and tanker-mounted pumps,” he said, adding that maintenance work and servicing of existing pump sets will also be carried out this week.

Residents alleged that despite the pre-monsoon drain cleaning work, the city still witnesses waterlogging on many stretches of NH-48 as well as internal roads that lead to traffic congestion.

Meenakshi Kapoor, a resident of Sector 49, said that the stretch between Subhash Chowk and Vatika Chowk was congested and it took her more than 20 minutes to cross it. “The situation was bad around 6pm and commuters had started taking internal roads that led to traffic congestion,” she said.