Provide basic amenities, forget ‘super smart’ city: Political leaders

The state government wants to turn Gurugram into a ‘super smart’ city, but the lack of basic civic infrastructure is exposed every time it rains.

The state government wants to turn Gurugram into a ‘super smart’ city, but the lack of basic civic infrastructure is exposed every time it rains, alleged members of different political parties on Tuesday.

Vehicles get stuck in waterlogged road after heavy rainfall on National Highway 48 near Signature Tower Chowk in Gurugram on Tuesday. (Yogendra Kumar/HT PHOTO)

“The repeat of jams and waterlogging belies tall claims of the Haryana government and not only exposes its incompetence, incapacity and incapability, but an indifference to issues faced by the public. A booming and shining Gurugram has been reduced to a flooded, stuck city,” said Ashish Dua, national secretary, All India Congress Committee.

“The government’s claims of development have been exposed by the rain. They talk about smart cities, but there is no basic facility in Gurugram. There has been no planning to clean the sewerage, drainage and outlet systems before the monsoon,” said Praveen Attrey, spokesperson-Haryana, INLD.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said that a special investigation team should be formed and an FIR filed against all contractors and government officials who are managing civic amenities.

BJP members said that the situation was managed well. “We experienced one of the heaviest spells of rain (in recent years) on Tuesday, as Gurugram received around 128mm of rain in less than five hours. The downpour was limited to Gurugram, as surrounding areas got marginal rains. We were able to avoid a situation like 2016 and the water receded relatively faster due to the efforts and measures that were in place,” said Raman Malik, Haryana spokesperson, BJP.