Poor infrastructure exposed again as rains cause Gurugram roads to cave in

Gurugram: Unlike their fellow countrymen in Mumbai and Bengaluru, where the roads are riddled with potholes, Gurugram does not receive excessive rainfall during monsoons. Yet, a mere 120 millimetres of rainfall between July 13 and 16 was enough for the poor infrastructure of roads to be exposed again.

In addition to the usual problem of potholes, rains have caused other types of problems for on Gurugram's roads. Many newly-constructed roads, on which thousands of crores have been poured by public agencies, have caved in.

Some of the prominent places where roads have reportedly caved in include IFFCO chowk, IFFCO Chowk flyover, Hero Chowk, and Cyber City road.

Not only are these areas among the busiest routes, they are also among the more developed areas as the Haryana government tries to promote Gurugram as an 'Icon city'.

Miffed over the poor infrastructure, Gurugram residents have taken to social media and are demanding accountability from the public officials.

Not only are they complaining of poor roads in private residential colonies but also about the poor upkeep of these roads by the public agencies.

Many resident associations claim there is a lack of proactive action by the agencies towards improving the roads in the city.

In the past, residents have pooled money themselves to build and maintain roads for better connectivity.

"There will not be a single road in the city at present that is free of potholes. Though there are many construction activities happening at the stretch of Golf Course road and NH-8, the condition of other roads continues to be poor," said Rashmi Singh, a city resident.

"The poor state of roads in the city has started to take a toll on us. They a major risk for commuters, as there have been also reports of people sustaining back and neck injuries," added Singh.

After the heavy rains in July 2016, the problems of crumbling infrastructure of the city and poor roads were out in the open for everyone to see.

Following that debacle, the public agencies, along with the cooperation from the central government agencies, tried to put a lot of investment in revamping the major routes like NH-8, Sohna road, MG road, Golf Course road and Golf Course extension road.

While crores were spent on revamping these roads, the complaint of poor road in the internal parts of the city is still unresolved.

The Haryana government had launched a 'HarPath' app, through which people can take photos of poor roads and send it to the government. The presence of multiple agencies for road maintenance, however, prevents fixing of accountability.