Delhi NCR work commutes turn into water expeditions after rain: ‘Boating to office’

Rainfall exposes infrastructure issues in Delhi NCR, leading to complaints from commuters about delays.

Three days of intermittent rainfall have rendered large parts of Delhi NCR unnavigable, exposing cracks in the region’s infrastructure. Several key routes in Delhi and Gurgaon experienced heavy waterlogging over the last few days, highlighting inadequate drainage systems and resulting in rush-hour delays for commuters.

A waterlogged street in Gurugram's sector-37C near Rama Garden, on Thursday, September 5, 2024. (Photo by Parveen Kumar/Hindustan Times)

Office-goers commuting to work and parents dropping their children to school bore the brunt of this traffic congestion due to waterlogged roads. Traffic in several parts of Delhi NCR, including Gurugram, came to a standstill again this morning - this despite the fact that the region experienced only moderate rainfall today.

Many office-goers took to social media while stranded on waterlogged roads to complain about Delhi and Gurugram’s “crumbling infrastructure” and calling on civic bodies to address the issue.

“Gurgaon after just an hour of rain……With this kind of crumbling infra, we are planning to compete with mega cities like Dubai,” wrote X user Shruti Mallick, sharing a video that shows cars and autorickshaws driving on a waterlogged road.

Swimming in Gurgaon

Some took recourse in rueful humour and wondered whether they should invest in a boat. “Should I write driving or boating for office?” one peeved commuter named Neetu Garg asked

“After seeing Gurgaon turn into a water park every monsoon, swimming should be mandatory for corporate jobs in Gurgaon. If you can't swim to work, you're probably in the wrong city!” Satish Dangi joked.

Others complained of delays in reaching work. “It should rain only on weekends in Delhi. I'm only twice as late as I usually am to office,” wrote X user Sanchal.

The spell of rain that began early on Wednesday has left main roads inundated, leading to traffic congestion on many key routes. Waterlogging was reported from several areas of Gurgaon, such as Delhi-Jaipur Expressway near Narsinghpur, Sohna Road, Golf Course Extension Road, Basai, Hero Honda Chowk, Southern Peripheral Road (SPR) and Subhash Chowk.