The Haryana government and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which are probing the unprecedented waterlogging and consequent monster traffic jam on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway two days ago, have blamed each other in their preliminary findings.
In its report, the NHAI has blamed the inadequate capacity of the Badshahpur drain and suggested that it be de-silted immediately, while the Haryana government has said that the situation was aggravated due to the construction of a flyover at the Hero Honda Chowk.
In what is believed to be one of the worst traffic jams in the country in the recent past, thousands of motorists were stuck for several hours on NH-8 due to waterlogging at the Hero Honda Chowk. Many people were, in fact, forced to sleep in their cars overnight.
According to the NHAI, the main reason behind the waterlogging was the inadequate capacity of the Badshahpur drain — the main channel that caters to the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) area. Second, the report said that the width of the drain on the up-stream side of culvert crossing the drain is 5.6 m, whereas only two outlet pipes of 3 m diameter each have been provided by the HUDA on the downstream, which caused an overflow on the upstream side and led to the national highway being flooded.
“Besides, a permanent longitudinal drain being constructed by the NHAI could not be completed because the bed-level of the Badshahpur drain is higher than the invert level of the longitudinal drain. It is being constructed by the NHAI as per the drainage plan approved by the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon. Also, the drains could not be connected as the owners of some properties have obtained stay orders on shifting,” said a senior NHAI official. The official said that as a temporary measure in case of heavy rain again eight water tankers, with a capacity of 20,000 litres each, were stationed at the Hero Honda Chowk to pump out water.
Badshahpur drain blamed
The official suggested that the capacity of the Badshahpur drain be increased, its narrow passage downstream be widened and that it be de-silted to facilitate construction of the permanent longitudinal drain.
However, a senior Haryana IAS officer told The Hindu on condition of anonymity that a host of factors, including the construction of a flyover by the NHAI, aggravated the situation. According to him, the local administration did its best to prevent the “worst” scenario. “The heavy rain led to waterlogging, and the situation was aggravated due to the ongoing construction of the flyover by the NHAI. There was no space for vehicles to ply. But, the administration did well to contain the situation. They promptly repaired the breach in the Badshahpur drain and diverted traffic. Waterlogging is a larger issue pertaining to unplanned urbanisation and encroachment upon natural water channels. We cannot blame the local administration. We need to look ahead and prevent such situations from happening again,” said the officer, who is one of the two senior IAS officers deputed by the Haryana government to submit a report on the matter.
