Heavy rains leave behind battered roads in Gurugram

Residents of these areas said that the water logging led to accidents on the stretch—at least 20 commuters had fallen into the water here

Several roads in the city developed potholes and the condition of many others worsened after four days of incessant rain last week led to parts of Gurugram flooding, residents said on Monday. Authorities, meanwhile, said they were working to repair as many roads as they could.

Potholes and bad roads in sector 63 after the rain in Gurugram. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

Police on Monday also said they received several complaints about potholes leading to accidents last week.

Preet Pal Sangwan, assistant commissioner of police (crime), said police received over 70 calls between September 22 and September 24 complaining of potholed roads leading to accidents. “Our teams were deployed at all key points and helped more than 400 commuters cross the stretches, even deploying police vehicles to do so. People who suffered injuries were given first-aid and teams continued to caution people to drive safely on the potholed roads,” he said.

To be sure, Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) is responsible for the maintenance of the roads.

“Repair work by GMDA on several roads in the city is in progress and new road upgradation works are also in the pipeline. Once the monsoon season is over, the projects will be expedited,” a GMDA spokesperson said.

The deplorable condition of roads was highlighted by many residents on social media on Monday. Commuters said edges of the pavements on the road towards Sohna from Sector 50 had been washed away. The road surface at Pilot Chowk in Sector 63 had eroded leading to a pothole which stretched across the width of the stretch.

Commuters who returned to work on Monday after a rainy weekend, said the worst-affected areas included Golf Course Extension Road, Dwarka Expressway, the service lane near La Lagune, sectors 54, 69, 70, 71, Vatika Chowk to Kherki Daula and Sector 84.

Residents of these areas said that the water logging led to accidents on the stretch—at least 20 commuters had fallen into the water here. Residents said that their society WhatsApp groups were flooded with accident messages and people reported several of them to nearest police stations on Thursday and Friday night.

“On Friday night, two electricians suffered fractures and other injuries after their motorcycle fell into muddy water while they were trying to avoid a pothole on Friday afternoon,” Srikant Sharma, a resident of Sector 69, said. He added that the condition of roads in the area is terrible during the monsoon and those on two-wheelers are affected the most.

Prabhat Singh, a resident of Emaar Palm Drive on Golf Course Extension Road, said he met with an accident on Thursday evening on Golf Course Road while returning home from office as he could not see most of the potholes due to water logging.

“My car skidded two feet into the adjoining road as I could not figure out there was an open drain on the left side. I sustained minor injuries and my car got damaged. The entire stretch has over 300 potholes and needs urgent repairs,” Singh, who shifted here from Pune in July this year, said.

On the night of September 22, a 45-year-old resident of Sector 37D, Swami Chopra, was electrocuted to death when his scooter fell into a pit near an electric pole on the waterlogged Pataudi Road. Passersby rushed him to a hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival, police said.