Monsoon mayhem: Heavy downpour brings Delhi, Gurgaon to knees again
Heavy rainfall brought Gurgaon to a standstill again, with many fearing a repeat of recent flooding on National Highway-8 that left thousands of commuters stranded in recently, with police asking Delhi residents to avoid the Millennium City.
Heavy monsoon showers on Monday led to waterlogging in many areas and massive traffic jams across the national capital and adjoining Gurgaon, leading to people being stuck for long hours on the roads.
Traffic snarls even led to the cavalcade of US Secretary of State John Kerry stuck on the road leading to the city from airport.
Gurgaon was brought to a standstill with many fearing a repeat of last month’s flooding on National Highway-8 that left thousands of commuters stranded.
Following water-logging in several parts of the city, many places including Hero Honda Chowk, Sohna Road, Manesar, Udyog Vihar, old Gurgaon Road and a few areas in New Gurgaon experienced heavy traffic snarls on Monday.
People returning from Delhi to Gurgaon reported that the traffic was moving very slowly.
Those travelling on Delhi roads also reported traffic jams, tweeting photos of traffic jams and water-logged areas. “…as per information from area traffic officer (on Ring Road near IIT-Delhi), traffic is heavy due to heavy rain and water logging,” the Delhi Traffic Poilce handle posted in reply to a tweet.
Delhi received 21.6 mm of rainfall in short spells. There was heavy rain between 4.30pm and 8.30 pm.
The area around South Extension, Ring Road, Defence Colony, Moolchand, Maharani Bagh, Moti Bagh, parts around Dhaula Kuan, Rao Tula Ram Marg, Rajouri Garden, Palam, Dabri, and Akshardham were flooded. All the stretches witnessed heavy traffic jams.
Despite several measures announced by Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar and top police officials after the July 28 traffic gridlock that stretched for several hours overnight, commuters had to again face a tough time on Monday.
Commuters were left stranded on city roads earlier in the day as auto-rickshaws went on a flash strike to protest the recent police action against them. All 24,000 three-wheelers – 15,000 shared (black) and 9,000 private (green) -- were off the roads, putting commuters, mostly office-goers, to inconvenience in the morning rush hour.
Gurgaon lies in a low-lying region and receives water that flows down both from the Aravalli hills and Delhi’s Chhatarpur area. But repeated encroachments along the main Badshahpur drain and patchy concretisation of drains has ensured that storm water mixed with sewage floods arterial roads, leaving thousands of commuters marooned.
In the first week of July, Hindustan Times had highlighted how a rainwater management system pioneered by the British using a series of embankments stood destroyed. The rush to build more apartments and commercial complexes ensured water channels, ravines and drains that took away rainwater vanished in the last three decades.
Important embankments at Ghata, Jharsa, Chakkarpur, Nathupur and near Sirhaul toll plaza have all but vanished, forcing water to take the road route.
As Gurgaon saw less-than-average rain in the past few years, the city was saved from a disaster.