Heavy rain cripples Gurugram, commuters stranded for hours

Commuting during the morning rush hours on the city’s waterlogged roads—with broken traffic signals and a shortage of traffic personnel—turned into a nightmare

Gurugram: Heavy rain since Wednesday has paralysed Gurugram, triggering severe traffic jams on major roads such as Sohna Road, Rajiv Chowk, and Southern Peripheral Road (SPR), leaving thousands stranded for hours on Thursday morning too.

Social media platforms were flooded with images and videos of submerged roads, long snarls, and stalled vehicles. (Parveen Kumar/Hindustan Times)

“The traffic is moving slowly between Narsinghpur and Rajiv Chowk on the expressway due to the waterlogging issue. Traffic police personnel are deployed at these points to regulate and ease vehicular pressure caused by waterlogging,” assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Satyapal Yadav said.

Yadav said that several vehicles reportedly broke down on the expressway service lane and other locations, which were towed away by cranes deployed by traffic police at various key intersections and points. “An incident of minor road cave-in in DLF Phase-II near Cyber City was filled up by roping in contractors immediately,” he added.

Commuting during the morning rush hours on the city’s waterlogged roads—with broken traffic signals and a shortage of traffic personnel—turned into a nightmare. Office-goers reported being stuck for over two hours to cover barely a few kilometres on Friday. “I left home at 10:15 am from Subhash Chowk to reach Golf Course Extension Road. I reached Golf Course Road at 12:30 pm. There is no traffic cop in sight, and water has entered several car engines,” Shruti Mishra, a corporate employee, said.

Residents of Sectors 48, 49, 50, and 66 said auto drivers refused rides, while app-based cab fares surged.

“I picked my daughter from her tuition at 10 a.m. and got stuck on Sohna Road for over 90 minutes. There was water everywhere, and traffic wasn’t moving an inch,” Ankit Rana, a resident of Sector 67, said.

Police teams were deployed at important intersections to manage the traffic. “We deployed additional traffic personnel across waterlogged zones, especially Rajiv Chowk, Sohna Road, and SPR, to streamline the movement. However, the sheer volume of vehicles and flooding slowed things down,” Gurugram Police spokesperson Sandeep Kumar said.

Social media platforms were flooded with images and videos of submerged roads, long snarls, and stalled vehicles. Sohna Road resembled a clogged canal, forcing people to abandon vehicles and wade through knee-deep water.

At least 10 dewatering pumps have been made operational on Delhi-Jaipur Expressway, Sohna Road, and Jharsa due to waterlogging on the roads, Yadav said, adding, “Three pumps each are running continuously on each side of the expressway near Narsinghpur. One pump each is running near Rajiv Chowk, Hero Honda Chowk, and Jharsa to remove the waterlogging from the roads.”

Teams from the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) were deployed with pumps to drain the water, but several areas remained inundated till noon. “Our teams are continuously working to pump out water and ease the flow,” a GMDA official said.

India Meteorological Department (IMD) officials said that an orange alert was issued for Gurugram and neighbouring areas till 4:22 p.m. on Thursday. “Moderate rainfall is expected to take place in Gurugram, Sohna, Tauru, Ballabhgarh, Faridabad and other areas with lightning and thunderstorms,” an IMD official said.

With more rain forecast, Gurugram’s infrastructure faces yet another test.