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Visuals of a cab stranded in a waterlogged service lane on the Gurgaon-Delhi expressway, with its driver sitting behind the wheel as rainwater came up to his waist and the passenger sitting helplessly on the roof with his suitcase, encapsulated the deluge as rain continued to lash the National Capital Region for the fourth consecutive day, inundating several areas.
A portion of a road caved in, a wall of a house collapsed and a subway was flooded as intermittent rain continued through the day, stopping briefly in the evening.
District administration officials said Gurgaon recorded 59 mm of rainfall between 8 am and 5 pm on Saturday. In the last two days, over 140 mm rainfall was recorded. One of the heaviest spells in September in the city in the past few years has brought the Millennium City to a standstill as the drainage infrastructure struggles to withstand the intensity of rainfall.
Several stretches on the NH-48, including Rajiv Chowk, Hero Honda Chowk and Subhash Chowk, were waterlogged. The carriageway and service lane at Narsinghpur stretch – a low lying area where water usually accumulates due to topography – on national highway 48 was submerged for hours, slowing traffic movement. Pedestrians, two-wheelers and cars broke down as they waded through 2-feet water that had collected in the service lane. Officials said five pumps had been deployed to pump out the water, but due to continuous rainfall, it was yet to be drained.
“Because of the slope of the surface drain at Narsinghpur, the rain water used to flow to the culverts before it got scattered, but over time due to habitation and urbanisation, the culverts have been rendered useless. So, when the intensity of rainfall is heavy at this low lying area, it gets flooded,” said an official of GMDA, adding that a partial solution to flooding at the stretch on NH-48 lies in the construction of leg 4 of a 5.5 km storm water drain, which will connect Vatika chowk to railway culvert on SPR, whose tender has been floated.
Following heavy rainfall, a portion of a road caved in beneath Iffco Chowk flyover. Officials said repair work of a sewer line was going on at the spot. The area was cordoned off and repair work initiated, said officials.
In the past, similar cave-ins have been reported at the Iffco Chowk, a busy intersection on the highway. In May 2022, a trench dug up to shift a sewer line had led to a cave-in on the service lane of Delhi-Gurgaon expressway near Iffco Chowk after heavy rain, while in August 2020, a sizeable chunk of road at Iffco Chowk had caved in after rain and subsequent waterlogging.
Old Gurgaon and low-lying areas such as Basai chowk, sector 9 A, sector 4 and Laxman Vihar remained waterlogged on Friday. In sector 38, a portion of a wall of a multi-storey house collapsed after soil caved in at the basement of an adjacent plot, where digging work was on during rain. Residents of adjacent houses said they had vacated their houses after some cracks developed in the walls. No one was injured. At Uppal South end, water entered houses.
At Rajiv Chowk, the non-motorised underpass/subway was inundated. Officials, however, said that as per the directions of district administration ahead of monsoon season, all non-motorised transport (NMT) across underpasses in the city are closed for public use during monsoons and the water collected there was the excess water diverted from Rajiv Chowk junction. None of the underpasses reported waterlogging, said officials.
Traffic police issued an advisory requesting the commuters on NH-48 going from Delhi/Gurgaon to Manesar, Rewari and Jaipur to take alternative routes like Golf Course Extension, Vatika Chowk and SPR. “Inner city commuters may follow Rajiv Chowk to Vatika Chowk and SPR. This stretch will be free from water logging and commuters will be able to avoid slowdown of traffic at Narsinghpur on highway and service lanes,” the advisory read.
Officials said efforts were on to reduce water logging at Mayfield Garden junction, Medanta Road, sector 30/31, sector 45/46, Jharsa Chowk, Rajiv Chowk, Signature Tower, Badshahpur drain, Narsinghpur, Hero Honda Honda chowk, Golf Course Road and Golf Course Extension road.
Officials attributed extensive water logging to the heavy rainfall. A GMDA official said, “Several belts in the city have faced water logging as incessant rain showers continue. Our officials are on the ground to facilitate relief measures and to address waterlogging and flooding issues. Installation of pump sets and tractor mounted pumps for dewatering of waterlogged areas, cleaning of debris from water chutes, road gullies, culverts and drains, diverting the flow of stormwater, rectifying sewer overflow issues, keeping critical key locations safe and motorable, are being undertaken to bring the situation under normalcy.”
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