Downpour cripples Gurugram again; 3 killed

A 33-hour spell of heavy rain that dumped 117mm of rainfall across Gurugram resulted in three deaths in Gurugram and Faridabad on Thursday

A 33-hour spell of heavy rain that dumped 117mm of rainfall across Gurugram resulted in three deaths in Gurugram and Faridabad on Thursday. The rain brought the city to a near standstill, inundating roads and underpasses, disrupting traffic, prompting a work-from-home advisory and once again exposing its chronic waterlogging problem.

Vehicles navigate through a waterlogged stretch during the heavy monsoon rain at Sec 5 Road in Gurugram on Thursday. (Parveen Kumar/HT)

Two men were killed in rain-related instances of electrocution in Gurugram. A 23-year-old was electrocuted when he touched a damp wall that had come in contact with a live wire late on Wednesday. A 51-year-old man was killed when a high-tension wire fell on a terrace on which he had climbed to clear water-logging, local police said.

In Faridabad’s Bharat Colony, a 50-year-old woman was killed after a balcony, which officials said was weakened due to the rain, collapsed.

Rain resumed around 3.15am on Thursday after intermittent showers on Wednesday and continued for several hours, prompting the district administration and police to advise corporate offices to allow employees to work from home until Friday in view of the inclement weather.

Tractors and hydra cranes were deployed at several locations to ferry commuters across waterlogged roads and underpasses, while police personnel were stationed across the city to regulate traffic, remove stranded vehicles and assist motorists.

Almost every major road and arterial stretch -- from Golf Course Road, MG Road and Sheetala Mata Road to Rajesh Pilot Marg and several roads in Old Gurugram -- was inundated, despite repeated assurances by the government and district administration that the city’s waterlogging problem would be addressed.

Among the worst-affected areas were Rajiv Nagar, Surat Nagar-Dhanwapur Road, sectors in Old Gurugram, Sector 69, Narsinghpur, Sector 102 along the Dwarka Expressway, the Medicity underpass near Rajiv Chowk, Sector 17A, Ashok Vihar Phase 3, Sushant Lok Phases 1, 2 and 3, and Sector 10. Residents were advised to venture outdoors only if absolutely necessary.

Traffic snarls were reported at Iffco Chowk, Rajiv Chowk, the stretch between the Cloverleaf intersection and Hero Honda Chowk, Manesar and Bilaspur, besides Kargil Shaheed Sukhbir Singh Yadav Marg, MG Road, Old Delhi-Gurugram Road, Rajesh Pilot Marg near Ghata and several internal roads. Officials said congestion eased after many offices implemented the work-from-home advisory.

Nearly all underpasses across the city were either barricaded because of water accumulation or blocked with sandbags to prevent further flooding, forcing authorities to divert traffic. Several school buses, private buses, cars and two-wheelers stalled after getting submerged in water, prompting police to deploy cranes and hydra machines to tow away stranded vehicles.

Residents said a school bus got stuck at the Medanta underpass near Rajiv Chowk around 7.30am after the underpass accumulated nearly four feet of water. The students were shifted to another bus and later reached their destination. Another school bus and a private bus were stranded in Sector 55 because of waterlogging.

DCP (Traffic) Prateek Gahlot said authorities were better prepared this year. “We handled the situation much better on Thursday as special preparations were made for 146 locations where waterlogging was reported during the last three monsoons,” he said.

Gahlot said traffic congestion was unavoidable because of the volume of rain, but movement continued as surface drains had been connected to main drains, pumps installed and desilting carried out at several locations.

Heavy rain also uprooted a tree and damaged electricity cables, leaving a school bus carrying around 15 students stranded for nearly two hours in Sector 23A, according to RWA general secretary Bhawani Shankar Tripathi. Across the city, parents reported delays in school commutes as buses arrived late for pick-ups and took longer than usual to reach campuses. Several schools, including DPS International, Sector 50, shifted to online classes on Friday in view of widespread waterlogging, the forecast of continued rain and the administration’s advisory.

According to the district administration, Gurugram received 117mm of rainfall over 33 hours till 5.30pm on Thursday, including 97mm in the 24 hours ending 8.30am. Sohna recorded 140mm during the period, while Manesar received 76mm.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast heavy rain across Gurugram and adjoining districts on Friday, attributing the spell to the monsoon trough shifting towards southern Haryana and northern Rajasthan. Rainfall activity is expected to ease after Friday, although light to moderate showers may continue over southern Haryana and adjoining areas for another four to five days.

Vikas Hooda, president, Ashok Vihar Phase-3 residents’ welfare association (RWA), said lanes in the area remained heavily waterlogged despite repeated assurances from the civic body and government officials that the problem would be resolved. “It is impossible for residents to step outside because of the accumulated water. This has become a new normal for us,” he said.

Savita Devi, a resident of Sector 46, said monsoon in Gurugram is turning into a recurrent “nightmare” for residents. “A commute that should take just 15 minutes often stretches to an hour due to severe waterlogging,” she said.

“The biggest concern is whether the existing drains have the capacity to handle heavy rainfall. While officials have repeatedly assured improvements in the drainage system, several drains continue to be clogged with garbage. Although desilting drives have been carried out, the work has not been satisfactory, leaving the infrastructure incapable of handling intense rainfall,” said Gauri Sarin, founder of citizen-led initiative ‘Making Model Gurugram’.

She added that Gurugram is still dependent on an ageing drainage network, with internal drainage systems in many colonies being ineffective and in urgent need of upgrades. “The city needs better and more robust drainage lines,” she said.

Reena Khatri, a resident of Sector 10, said the desilting exercise was inadequate in their area. “The stretch has three private schools, and every rainfall affects the daily commute of students, parents, and residents. Our councillor had informed us that only 35% of the desilting work on this road has been completed,” she said.

Kamal Malhotra, another resident from Sector 102, said a road recently constructed by the GMDA sunk, resulting in a nearly two-foot deep water filled crater after just 45 minutes of rain.