Heavy rain causes waterlogging in Gurugram, traffic disrupted

Gurugram, Aug 11 (IANS) A heavy spell of monsoon rain turned Gurugram’s major roads into streams on Sunday, and waterlogging was reported in several areas.As per the data from the district administration, Gurugram City recorded 53 mm of rain till 8.30 a.m. The data also showed that Wazirabad saw the maximum rainfall of 64 mm.Waterlogging was reported in several areas, including Sector 30, 31, 40, 45, 47, 51, 22, 23, 4, 5, 12, 13 48, Police line, Bus Stand Road, Sheetla Mata Road, Narsinghpur service road, Hero Honda Chowk, Basai Chowk, Khandsa, Sanjay Gram Road, Sohna Road and Subhash Chowk. The heavy waterlogging caused major traffic snarls in these areas.Sectors 7, 6, 29, 39, 38, Palam Vihar, Sheetla Colony and Rajiv Nagar also had flooded streets.The waterlogging impacted the Gurugram-Delhi Expressway and several subways, making travelling a nightmare for commuters. The pedestrians had to wade through knee-deep water in many places.The overnight heavy rainfall wreaked havoc across Gurugram and exposed the tall claims of the city administration.On July 2, the district administration appointed 14 officers and an Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) as nodal officers to ensure early draining out of the water in case of flooding at 112 locations. But the decision has not yielded any result as shown by the latest deluge.The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) and the irrigation department had decided to install more high-power pumps at waterlogging points along the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway, including at Narsinghpur. However, these steps have failed to resolve the waterlogging problem at several locations, which have emerged as the biggest choke points on the Expressway whenever it rains.“I would like to say the district administration, Gurugram, stop fooling the residents of Gurugram and must start work on the ground. A few kilometres of travelling took hours today which is ridiculous,” Nitin Dang, a resident of Sector 31, said.”It is scary to walk in waterlogged streets as it can claim someone’s life due to electric shock. Stormwater drains are either damaged or have been not cleaned. No action has been taken by any authority despite complaints and reminders,” a representative of Sector 51 RWA said.” A total of 1,000 plus traffic personnel have been deployed at major junctions for traffic operations. We also coordinated with the civic authorities to drain out the water for smooth traffic movement,” said Virender Vij, DCP (traffic).–IANSstr/dpb