Ggn admin offers to oversee upkeep of underpasses

Gurugram: Following the fiasco caused by Tuesday downpour, where most underpasses in Gurugram were inundated with water as deep as 25 feet, the district authorities have started taking corrective.

The public administration has written to the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), asking the latter to pass the responsibility of maintenance of underpasses to them. As of now, there has been no reply from NHAI on this issue.

The NHAI, as well as other public agencies, are facing heavy criticism over how the newly-constructed roads, where crores of rupees were poured in, could not handle a few hours of rain and were water-logged. It took more than 30 hours to pump out water from the Hero Honda Chowk underpass, where water had filled to levels of 25 feet following Tuesday's downpour.

Such was the condition that the public officials had to use a boat to survey the situation and then pump out water.

The challenge can be gauged from the fact that in 12 hours, only nine feet of water could be pumped out and throughout Wednesday, the newly-constructed underpass was out of bounds for the commuters.

This is not for the first time when underpasses have been a target of controversies.

For long Rajiv Chowk and Signature Chowk underpasses did not have proper electricity supply from DHBVN and operated on diesel gensets.

Moreover, dim lighting in these underpasses makes it a risky ride for lakhs of commuters not only at night but even in the day. Ten accidents were reported in these underpasses last year, which also resulted in loss of lives. Subsequently, authorities have started taking cognisance and begun correcting the flaws.