Hero Honda Chowk underpass in Gurugram was filled with 50 million litres water after Tuesday’s rains: Officials

Eight fire engines, tractor-trolleys, eight heavy duty pumps and other equipment have been deployed to pump out the rainwater.

Officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) estimate that 50 million litres of water had accumulated at the Hero Honda Chowk underpass following the backflow from the stormwater drain at Badshahpur on Tuesday.

Waterlogged Hero Honda Chowk underpass is being drained by fire brigade tenders after heavy rains on Tuesday inundated the area in Gurugram on Wednesday.(Parveen Kumar/Hindustan Times)

Officials of the NHAI, Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) and the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) were taking measures to improve the situation on Wednesday.

They pressed into service eight fire engines, eight heavy duty pumps, tractor-trolleys and other equipment to pump out the water accumulated from the underpass.

Officials said the water is being redirected into a drain along the highway, which takes it to the culvert in Badshahpur drain, from where it will go to the Najafgarh drain via Khandsa village. “We have been able to drain almost 80% of the water and by late night, the remaining water will be pumped out, provided there is no rainfall. Our men and equipment will be removed from the spot only after the work is completed,” said Lalit Arora, superintending engineer, GMDA.

NHAI officials said that care is being taken to ensure that water flows through the highway culvert into the Badshahpur drain, so that it does not spill into Sector 10. In July 2016, the water pumped from Hero Honda Chowk spilt into Sector 10 and adjacent areas, leading to minor flooding in the sector. “We are trying to avoid such a scenario also the rest of the highway has been dewatered, ” Ashok Sharma, NHAI project director, said.

NHAI official BB Jindal, who oversees the Hero Honda Chowk, said that almost 50 million litres of water had to be pumped out as the 682 metre-long underpass has been filled to the brim. “We are working in tandem with other authorities and things will normalise by tomorrow, ” he added.

Earlier in the afternoon, Gurugram MP Rao Inderjit Singh expressed his displeasure over the flooding, and the inability of the administration to expand the Khandsa drain in time. “This should not have happened. We need to revive water bodies and ponds in the city to harvest this water. The dams at Ghata and Wazirabad need to be made functional,” he said, during his visit to Hero Honda Chowk in the afternoon.

V Umashankar, CEO, GMDA, however, told Singh that they had successfully managed to prevent a repeat of ‘Gurujam’ but admitted that flooding of underpasses was not acceptable. “We will take measures to ensure this does not happen again,” he said.