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Waterlogging: 32 keys roads in Gurugram either lack surface drains or have damaged ones
Surface drains channelise the rain water to the master stormwater drains, which take the water to Najafgarh drain. Despite promises by civic agencies including the GMDA, the problem of waterlogging during monsoons has not been resolved over the years
Gurugram: A survey conducted by the drainage division of the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) prior to the monsoons found that 32 key roads in the city which include parts of Old Delhi road, Sheetla Mata road, sector 18/19 dividing roads have incomplete or damaged surface drains, which causes heavy waterlogging.
According to experts, surface drains channelise the rain water to the master storm water drains, which take the water to Najafgarh drain. Despite promises by civic agencies including the GMDA, the problem of waterlogging during monsoons has not been resolved over the years.
As per the survey, 13 major roads in the city do not have surface drains and these include the road from Mahavir Chowk to MDI Chowk, which is part of Mehrauli road; sectors 17, 18 dividing road, Old Delhi road to sector 22, 23 T Point, which goes towards Palam Vihar, sector 1, 2 dividing road (Palam Vihar road), sector 28, 29 dividing road, sector 43, 44 dividing road, sector 52, 52A dividing road, sector 56, 57 dividing road, sector 43, 53 dividing road, sector 25, 28 dividing road, sector 26, 42 dividing road, sector 32, 39 dividing road, and sector 27, sector 29 dividing road.
Likewise the survey revealed that there are 19 city roads, which either have incomplete surface drains, or damaged drains or drains which are not connected to the master storm water drain of the authority.
These roads include Mahavir Chowk to Dundahera stretch on Old Delhi road, which is incomplete and not handed over to GMDA, another key road on which the surface drain is incomplete is Atul Kataria Chowk to Krishna Chowk near Palam Vihar, the drain from Krishna Chowk to Dharam Colony is damaged, the Sector 18 and Sector 19 dividing road is also damaged and incomplete, the road from Surya Vihar to Sector 4 is also incomplete and damaged, sector dividing roads in sectors 51, 52, sectors 52, 57, sectors 44, 45, sectors 51, 57, sectors 50, 57, sectors 27, 29 are also incomplete and damaged, as per the survey conducted by the authority. The drains along the sector dividing roads of sectors 44,45; Vatika Chowk to NH 48 along SPR, sectors 70, 70A, sectors 75, 75A, 76, sectors 76, 77, along sector 77, sector 78, and sector dividing road along sectors 73, 74, and sector 71 and sector 73 are also incomplete and damaged, as per the survey conducted by the authority.
A senior GMDA official on the condition of anonymity said that a considerable number of roads in the city get damaged either due to lack of surface drains, damaged or intermittently constructed drains, which leads to significant water stagnation during the monsoons leading to the deterioration of the roads.
“There are several roads in sector 1 to 57, where drains are either non-existent or these are damaged as a result of which waterlogging takes place. This matter was raised prior to the monsoons but it seems due to paucity of time it could not be taken up. We had conducted the survey to identify the missing drains and as the authority is carrying out a comprehensive drainage mapping of the city it is important that these missing links are constructed as soon as possible,” said the senior GMDA official.
Pawan Kumar, a resident of Palam Vihar, who has a shop in sector 22 market said that due to waterlogging, the Major Sushil Aima road and Old Delhi road gets damaged every year. “The waterlogging which happened recently damaged the Major Sushil Aima road completely and it folded up despite being relaid only a month earlier. There is so must dust on these roads that commuting has become difficult. Surface drains should be constructed on priority,” said Kumar.
Meanwhile experts are of the view that the primary reason for waterlogging on city roads, and potholes is the non-existent surface drains and damaged drains.
“The roads which don’t have surface drains have very poor life as bitumen roads are badly damaged by water. The civic agencies in the city should immediately construct the missing surface drains and ensure their connectivity with master drains. There used to be a surface drain on sector 18 and sector 17 road and also Major Sushil Aima road but these have been covered and are non-functional,” said Rao Vivek Singh, architect and president, Gurugram architect association.
When asked about the matter, a GMDA spokesperson said that the authority is actively working to ensure that missing surface drains are constructed on priority. “The road infrastructure division of the authority will take up the construction of surface drains wherever these are missing on priority. The incomplete and damaged surface drains will also be repaired to ensure there is no waterlogging in the city,” said the spokesperson.
