Gurgaon: Pre-monsoon downpour unleashes traffic snarls and waterlogging

The first pre-monsoon showers may have brought the mercury down, but it also unleashed traffic pangs and heavy waterlogging for commuters in Gurgaon on Monday afternoon.

The first pre-monsoon showers may have brought the mercury down, but it also unleashed traffic pangs and heavy water logging for commuters in Gurgaon on Monday afternoon.

Inside the city, roads and bylanes in several localities were submerged due to choked drains. Areas like DLF Phases, Bristol Chowk, Golf Course road, Sector 15, Sikenderpur, Old railway and new road, Mahavir Chowk, among others, witnessed water logging.(Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

A two-hour long downpour was all that was required to throw vehicular movement on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway and adjoining service lanes out of gear.

Though sporadic traffic snarls were reported from Hero Honda Chowk till Ambience Mall towards Delhi, the worst affected was the two-kilometre long stretch of road from South City to IFFCO Chowk where traffic, both on service lanes and carriageway, was forced to crawl due to water logging on service lanes. Long queues of vehicles were seen on this stretch.

An ambulance was also stuck in the traffic jam on the expressway near 32 Milestone. When informed, assistant commissioner of police, Hawa Singh directed traffic cops to rush to help ambulance find a way out.

Officials said that teams of traffic cops and highway operator have been sent to clear ease the traffic jams on the expressway. They said that the traffic load on the expressway saw a sudden rise after the service lane near South City entry was waterlogged.

“Teams are working on the expressway. Traffic has now started moving smoothly,” said an official at 3:15 pm.

Inside the city, roads and bylanes in several localities were submerged due to choked drains. Areas like DLF Phases, Bristol Chowk, Golf Course road, Sector 15, Sikenderpur, Old railway and new road, Mahavir Chowk, among others, witnessed water logging.

Pedestrians were seen wading through waterlogged roads across the city.

“This is the situation only after two-hour long rains. One would imagine the condition during monsoons,” said a commuter Vikas Sharma while exposing the water logging prevention claims of the administration.