As torrential rain wreaked havoc in Gurgaon, the one-line tweet — Mumbai was made from seven islands. Gurugram (Gurgaon) is slowly turning into one — captured the frustration and helplessness of thousands of Delhi-Gurgaon commuters who were stranded on waterlogged NH 8 on Thursday and Friday. It was a scary situation that brought home the dark side of ill-planned growth and encroachment, exposing the commuters to untold sufferings — hunger, thirst, and despair.
The bumper-to-bumper traffic stretched to more than 20 km on the Delhi-Gurgaon road. Stranded commuters ran out of fuel and water, cars developed snags and had to be abandoned on roads, mobile phone got discharged, and chaos prowled the highways like never before. In some cases, people took as many as ten hours to reach home.
Dotted with high-rise glass towers and swanky offices housing world-famous technology behemoths, Gurgaon saw its life paralysed by the turgid flow of rainwater that chocked its drains and escape routes. As the cascading impact spread to arterial roads, the images of the marooned city and resultant traffic snarls should come as an eye-opener to town planners at a time when the country is ready to give birth to a number of so-called smart cities.
The situation was so grim that police issued an advisory to the people in Delhi to stay away from Gurgaon and declared closure of schools for two days. “People coming to Gurgaon from Delhi are advised to stay back today to avoid being stuck in traffic jams due to flooding on roads,” police tweeted.
Some MNCs too declared a day off in Gurgaon, where Section 144 of the CrPC was imposed to keep motorists and people away from roads. “Considering the unprecedented rainfall and the flow of huge volume of water due to downward gradient from Delhi towards Gurgaon, prohibitory order under section 144 the CrPC has been imposed near Hero Honda Chowk in the city,” said Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner Tl Satyaprakash. He added the DEO has been directed to request all schools in the city to remain closed on Friday and Saturday due to potholes and open manholes.
Gurgaon Police Commissioner Navdeep Singh Wirk was seen riding a bicycle to the blocked areas to supervise law & order. Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari ordered the NHAI chief to send a team of officials to clear up the roads and report back.
long tailbacks were witnessed in gridlocked roads in Gurgaon for the second day as hundreds of motorists abandoned their vehicles and waded through knee-deep water which accumulated on both the carriageways of Delhi-Jaipur road. The chaos started on Thursday after heavy rain led to waterlogging near Hero Honda Chowk from 4 pm as the main drain overflowed. The NH-8, which is the main carriageway from Delhi to Jaipur, was choked with hundreds of trucks unable to move and the situation worsened as morning commuters too came on the road.
Haryana Chief Minister Ml Khattar, who himself wanted to go to Gurgaon to assess the prevailing situation, could not proceed as his helicopter could not take off due to bad weather. Khattar has called an emergency meeting in Chandigarh to discuss the situation arising out of the traffic jams and water logging problem in Gurgaon.
Haryana Chief Secretary DS Dhesi said the situation arose due to unexpected 46 mm rainfall recorded within three hours as against 190mm rainfall recorded between June 1 and July 27 in Gurgaon. He said that the situation had aggravated because a flyover was under construction at Hero Honda Chowk. As a result of its scaffoldings and construction material, the bylane had further become narrow causing traffic bottlenecks. With a view to regulate traffic, light vehicles are being allowed to pass on priority basis while heavy vehicles are being diverted.
The traffic jams affected both flyovers and service lanes in Gurgaon as well as Rajeev Chowk, Sohna Road, Signature tower, Old Gurgaon, Khirki Daula toll plaza and Manesar from Jaipur to Gurgaon side.
Gurgaon’s central Hero Honda Chowk remained inundated. An under construction underpass and flyover near the Chowk led to a diversion at the spot which further slowed the traffic, while the drainage system has failed.
The Haryana Government called an emergency meeting to discuss the situation as it came under attack from the Congress and the AAP.
“As the BJP passes the buck, Gurgaon chokes. What an awful ordeal 4commuters esp ambulances tht may have been stuck for hrs,” Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi tweeted.
Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala accused the Maohar lal Khattar Government of ignoring basic infrastructure in Gurgaon. “This type of situation has never happened in the millennium city. We warned the Khattar Government after the first rain. They cannot say the Congress was in power.