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Waterlogging woes: Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway still not ready for monsoon
Most roads in Gurgaon were submerged after the downpour on Monday.
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Despite chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s direction to civic agencies to take all steps to ensure Gurgaon’s readiness for the monsoon, there is a lag in the preparations to keep waterlogging at bay.
Last month’s flood control order by the deputy commissioner, which entrusted civic agency officials to personally take charge of the preparations, also seems to have made little impact on the ground situation — most roads in Gurgaon were submerged after the downpour on Monday.
The Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway was the worst affected with waterlogging at several places, causing jams across the city. Waterlogging near Sector 30- 31, at Hero Honda Chowk, which are perennial problem areas, and at a number of stretches between the chowk and Kherki Daula on both sides caused serious congestion on the expressway. Highway concessionaire said the situation could worsen once the monsoon hits.
The failure to build a proposed artificial lake in Sector 72, additional kuccha drain along southern peripheral road, and several other proposed measures have remained in limbo, and this could lead to problems during the monsoon.
“The solution has to come from the civic agencies which were tasked with expanding the Badshahpur drain. An additional drain from Hero Honda Chowk to Khandsa is still not complete. Pumping water off the road is not a feasible solution as almost 700 cusecs of water gets collected at Hero Honda Chowk once it rains,” said S Raghuraman, CEO, MCEPL.
On Monday, thousands of commuters on the expressway were caught in jams at Hero Honda Chowk, Rajiv Chowk, Jharsa exit, Signature Tower, Iffco Chowk and Shanker Chowk. The snarls on the service roads had a cascading effect on Sohna Road, HUDA City Centre Road, Sector 17/18 dividing road, and several other roads in the city.
“I was stuck for almost half an hour at the Sector 31 exit of the service road with traffic coming to a standstill,” said Kamal Thakur of Sector 5.
A Delhi resident said he took almost three hours to reach Gurgaon. “There was absolute chaos,” he said.
K Madhusudhan Rao, assistant general manager, Valeccha engineering said waterlogging took place at Hero Honda Chowk because of excess water from Badshahpur drain that could not be diverted.
HUDA officials said the situation on Monday has given them an idea of the spots that need fixing.
