Morning deluge: Gurugram struggles to keep its head above water

Traffic came to a halt on major roads, including the GCR, GCER, Southern Peripheral Road (SPR) and Sohna Road, besides key junctions of Hero Honda Chowk, Rajiv Chowk and Sector 57, all of which were knee-deep in water

Daily lives of residents staying in societies along the Golf Course Road (GCR) and Golf Course Extension Road (GCER), and in Sushant Lok-3 and sectors 54 to 57 came to a standstill on Thursday morning, as a sudden downpour of 2.5mm since 8.30am brought the city to its knees due to heavy waterlogging, traffic snarls and severe water backflow into houses and arterial roads.

Cars submerged on arterial roads of Block-A, Sushant Lok-3. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

Traffic came to a halt on major roads, including the GCR, GCER, Southern Peripheral Road (SPR) and Sohna Road, besides key junctions of Hero Honda Chowk, Rajiv Chowk and Sector 57, all of which were knee-deep in water.

With school buses stuck on roads, many private schools cancelled physical classes and sent students back home.

“Torrential rains early morning during the time when students board the buses or get ready to come to school made us decide against having on-campus classes. When there is an option of virtual classes now, it was prudent to move to it. The children’s safety and bus maintenance in case of any problems faced on the roads were also one of the main points considered for this decision,” Rupa Chakraborty, director of Suncity School, said.

Commuters were stranded on roads for hours. “I was stuck on SPR for over an hour. The water was so deep that cars could not move,” Anil Sharma, a daily commuter, said, calling on authorities to address drainage issues urgently.

Virender Vij, deputy commissioner of police (traffic), said that over 300 police personnel were deployed at different stretches to help commuters cross the stretches. “The traffic from Narsinghpur resulted in congestion on other stretches connecting to the expressway. The situation was brought under control within peak hours,” he said.

Local businesses along the major roads also suffered as flooding kept customers away. “Our store remained empty for most of the day. The roads were so flooded that people could not reach us,” a shopowner in Sector 56 said.

The road to the Sector 56 police station was flooded, making it impossible to cross the stretch. Power outages also exacerbated the woes of residents and businesses.

Civic officials said that water pumps were deployed and the situation normalised by around 12.30pm.

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) faced criticism for the waterlogging and sewage backflow. “Our teams were at the spot since morning and with the help of at least 10 pumps, all the waterlogging was cleared. Our teams are also cleaning all rainwater harvesting pits that are blocked due to the waste. We are also hiring workers to clean sewers. It took three hours for the team to drain out water from the stretches,” Narhari Singh Bangar, MCG commissioner, said.

Housing colonies flooded

Residents took to social media to share pictures and videos of waterlogged streets in their localities. The visuals from Golf Course Road, usually a bustling thoroughfare, displayed cars stuck in knee-deep water. Arterial roads leading from Golf Course Extension Road and Sushant Lok-3 resembled rivers, with residents struggling to navigate the waist-high water.

Kusum Sharma, a resident of Sector 54, said: “When drains are not desilted on time, not cleaned before rains, when stormwater drains are not cleared, when there is garbage everywhere, when there is no ban on single-use plastic and rainwater pits are not cleaned, what else can we expect? I am now worried that open manholes and other pits have not yet been covered. There were accidents last year that killed sanitation workers; if proper care is not taken, we will have more incidents this year too.”

Residents of Sushant Lok-3 said rainwater entered the basements of their houses, as drains were blocked and led to backflow, resulting in damage to household goods.

“Every monsoon, we face this issue. Despite repeated complaints, the authorities have done nothing to fix the drainage system. We are forced to remain indoors during monsoon,” Kapil Manchanda, a resident of Block D of Sector 57, said.

Despite assurances from the municipal officials, residents remained sceptical. “We have heard these promises before, but nothing changes. The city needs a robust and efficient drainage system to handle such events,” Joginder Singh, a resident of Sushant Lok-3, said.

Officials of the Gurugram Development Authority (GMDA) said teams were deployed on the ground at key locations along with pumps to drain out water.

Vikram Singh, executive engineer of GMDA, said: “Pump sets have been deployed at hot spots, such as Narsinghpur, Khandsa Chowk, Rajiv Chowk, Sector 67 and Ghata Road, to help clear any waterlogging on the carriageway. A tree along Iffco Chowk fell forcefully, damaging a drain and the team is working on rectifying the issue. Creeks and pondages developed by GMDA along GCR proved beneficial in carrying the stormwater and prevent flooding.”