Key roads drown in rain again as Gurugram stands still

Traffic police personnel were deployed across the city, many standing ankle- to knee-deep in water to manually direct vehicles

A morning of relentless showers plunged Gurugram into chaos on Tuesday, with key stretches waterlogged, vehicles stranded, and traffic grinding to a crawl for hours.

Vehicles wade through a waterlogged stretch after heavy rain on the National Highway-48 service road on Tuesday. (Parveen Kumar/HT)

Major stretches, including Tulip Chowk, Malibu Town, Bilaspur Chowk, Mahavir Chowk, Farrukhnagar, Narasinghpur foot overbridge, and the busy Rajiv Chowk, were waterlogged, disrupting normal movement and stranding vehicles.

Several arterial roads were reduced to single-lane movement, with vehicles crawling through flooded sections. “It took me nearly two hours to cover a 10-kilometre stretch this morning. The waterlogging was so bad near Rajiv Chowk that cars were almost stalling,” said Rohit Malhotra, a resident of Sector 15.

Traffic police personnel were deployed across the city, many standing ankle- to knee-deep in water to manually direct vehicles. “The situation was frustrating, but I could see policemen standing in the rain and helping out. Without them, it would have been worse,” said Anita Dahiya, a commuter from Sohna Road.

The downpour reignited concerns about Gurugram’s fragile drainage system. “Every year we hear about big projects to tackle flooding, but nothing changes. A 20-minute shower is enough to choke the city,” said Manoj Yadav, a shopkeeper near Sadar Bazaar.

DCP (Traffic) Rajesh Mohan admitted managing flow was challenging. “We kept the traffic movement smooth, but waterlogging at multiple spots had impacted traffic,” he said, adding that teams were instructed in advance to coordinate with civic agencies for drainage.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Gurugram received 6mm rainfall between 8.30am and 5.30pm on Tuesday and 14.5mm in the preceding 24 hours. Officials said widespread rainfall was reported across Haryana, with heavy to very heavy showers in northern districts, and another spell expected on Wednesday and Thursday.

On Tuesday, Gurugram recorded a maximum temperature of 29.9°C and a minimum of 25.1°C. The city’s average air quality index (AQI) was 30, in the “good” category, at 4pm, according to the daily national bulletin from Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). With more rainfall forecast, commuters fear a repeat of Tuesday’s ordeal unless long-term drainage solutions are implemented.