: The Millennium City witnessed one of its worst traffic jams on Thursday as heavy rain coupled with the movement of Kanwariyas kept the major roads and intersections choked throughout the day.
The situation was aggravated in the evening due to a breach in Badshahpur drain near Sector 34. This led to flooding in nearby sectors.
“Authorities are arranging machines and sand bags to plug the breach. Presently, the breach is very small, but it can be fatal,” said Deputy Director, Public Relations, R.S. Sangwan.
Traffic on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway came to a standstill for several kilometers. Many motorists, through messages on WhatsApp, claimed that they were stuck on the highway for more than four hours. “I have not moved more than 100 m in the past two hours,” said Pradeep Kumar, who was caught in a traffic jam near Hero Honda Chowk in the evening.
Earlier, as it began to pour around 4 p.m., coinciding with the rush hour, most of the roads across the city were inundated with water in no time. At some points, the water was knee-deep, making it impossible for vehicles to ply. Several broke down, adding to the chaos.
Struggle
“It took me more than two hours to reach home from office, when the distance is not more than 12-13 km. I left the cab at HUDA City Centre due to traffic jam and then took an autorickshaw. It, too, broke down after going some distance. I then waded through water,” said Neeraj Sheoran, a software engineer and a resident of Gurgaon. “I have never witnessed such waterlogging and traffic jams in Gurgaon before,” he said.
The worst-affected areas were Sector 14, Sector 15, Sector 17, Sector 31, Sector 38, Sector 44, Sector 46, Sushant Lok Phase-I, DLF areas, Sohna Road, Golf Course Road, IFFCO Chowk, Sheetla Mata Road, Civil Lines and Old-Delhi Road.
The roads in and around Rajiv Chowk, Subhash Chowk, HUDA City Centre metro station and Hero Honda Chowk witnessed slow traffic due to waterlogging. Also, striking autorickshaw drivers blocked the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway near Mahipalpur in the morning, causing inconvenience to office-goers.
Cops on their toes
The traffic police, meanwhile, had a tough time. “The Commissioner of Police has directed all Station House Officers to work in tandem with the traffic police to ensure that vehicles keep moving. Policemen have been deployed at almost all intersections in the city,” said Assistant Commissioner of Police Hawa Singh, a Gurgaon Police spokesperson.
Gurgaon MLA Umesh Agarwal told The Hindu that all arrangements were in place to clear the water. “It takes a reasonable time for water to clear after heavy rainfall. It has been raining heavily in Gurgaon for the past two-three days. But there are no reports of water remaining stagnant a few hours after rain.”
