Heavy downpour brings Millennium City to standstill

Gurugram's infrastructure yet again failed and the city witnessed hours of frozen traffic with Friday's early morning 12-millimetre rainfall.

Thousands of vehicles were left stranded owing to heavy water logging and blockages coupled with construction activities that are being carried out these routes.

Most of the commuters complained of a delay of more than two hours on the road as they struggled to find open space due to chock-a- block traffic situation that continued till late evening.

The worst affected were traffic junctions along the National Highway-8 starting from Shankar Chowk, IFFCO Chowk, Hero Chowk and Rajiv Chowk.

Construction of the underpasses and flyovers in these routes along with the movement of thousands of vehicles resulted in a slow moving traffic at NH-8.

Other areas that were badly affected were Jharsa Road, Sohna Road, Mahavir Chowk, Old-Delhi Road, Jacobpura, Basai Chowk and Sector 10 Road.

Already facing a barrage of criticism, the Gurugram Police did not waste an opportunity in managing the worsening traffic situation. Senior Police officials including the Gurugram Police Commissioner Sandeep Khirwar visited the worst affected parts and to put the traffic situation in order.

"We are aware of the traffic situation. We have deputed our police personnel across various areas to clear the traffic. The cops and citizens need to get together and solve the challenges as they emerge," said Sandeep Khirwar, Gurugram Police Commissioner.

Friday's traffic-jam resulted in reviving the fear over District Administration's preparation to deal with the challenges of impending monsoon showers.

The city's infrastructure completely collapsed on July 28 last year when 46 millimetres of rainfall in the span of three hours resulted in the commuters being stuck in the traffic jams for more than 18 hours.

Following the debacle, the State government had announced slew of measures to enhance the city's infrastructure to tackle such challenges.

This involved widening of the Badshahpur drain, widening the city roads, desilting the drains and encouraging water harvesting.

"It is a co-incidence that this situation has occurred a day before Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar visits the city for an inauguration. Gurugram is already reeling under the crisis with unplanned infrastructure. The apathy by District Public Officials is only worsening the situation.

"When it takes 25 minutes to cover 100 metres you can understand how serious the problem is," said Amardeep Singh, resident.