Industrial hub Gurgaon witnessed its worst-ever traffic jam on the intervening night of July 28-29 as thousands of motorists were stuck on a stretch of the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway — between Rajiv Chowk and Hero Honda Chowk, going towards Jaipur — for more than 12 hours. Traffic on the stretch normalised only late on Friday, nearly 24 hours after the jam began.
The unprecedented jam, triggered due to heavy rain on Thursday evening and the breach of the Badshahpur drain, brought the city to a standstill on Friday morning. With their employees stuck in traffic, Gurgaon offices registered a major hit in attendance and productivity.
The industrial sector pegged the loss due to the jam at over Rs.500 crore.
In view of widespread waterlogging, the administration has issued an advisory for the schools to remain closed for two days.
The situation prompted Haryana Chief Secretary D.S. Dhesi to hold an emergency meeting of the Crisis Co-ordination Committee at Chandigarh and two senior IAS officers were immediately rushed to Gurgaon to co-ordinate and speed up operation to clear the jam. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Ministry of Road Transport also deputed teams of senior officers to ease the situation.
Knee-deep water
The trouble begin around 4 p.m. on Thursday after a spell of heavy rain that lasted for more than an hour, coinciding with rush hour traffic, left most of city roads inundated with water leading to traffic jams and a gridlock.
Hero Honda Chowk, which witnesses waterlogging every monsoon, was the worst-hit with knee-deep water. The situation was further aggravated with the breach of the Badshahpur drain late on Thursday evening. The rising water-level led to breakdown of several vehicles, including a Haryana Roadways bus, on the Chowk bringing traffic to a standstill.
Many of those caught on the stretch had to spend the night inside their vehicles.
Forced to fend for themselves, some of the harried motorists broke the fence on the median and drove over to the adjoining carriageway towards Delhi to get out of the mess.
