Heavy rain throws life out of gear in Gurugram
A heavy downpour recorded at 46 mm on Friday afternoon in Gurugram and its adjoining areas left residents grappling with waterlogging and traffic congestion, disrupting daily life and causing significant inconvenience to commuters.
The rains forced people to navigate flooded roads and streets, particularly in low-lying areas, as they tried to reach their destinations. Light rainfall was also observed on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday, along with continued drizzling in the morning. However, the downpour intensified in the afternoon and was still ongoing at the time of filing this report.
People were seen wading through knee-deep water in areas such as IFFCO Chowk, Bakhtawar Chowk, Subash Chowk, Hero Honda Chowk, Basai Chowk, Rajiv Chowk, Sohna Road, Old Delhi Road, Sheetla Devi Mata Mandir Road, Railway Road, Narasinghpur and many other parts of the city.
Employees and industrial workers commuting back home in the evening expressed frustration with the civic infrastructure, which they said collapses within minutes of rainfall in Gurugram.
“The civic authorities have completely failed to improve the infrastructure and upgrade the stormwater drainage system to handle rains,” alleged Amit Kumar, an activist from the Residents’ Welfare Association of M Block, Sector 51.
Gurpreet Singh, an employee of IndusInd Bank in Sector 17, criticised the poor condition of the roads, highlighting potholes and waterlogging.
He blamed the civic authorities for failing to address the issues faced by local citizens.
“Repairing existing highways, roads and internal streets in sectors is more necessary than building new expressways. People are already suffering due to heavy rain, and the large potholes are making daily life more dangerous. The civic authorities are ignoring these problems,” Singh said.
Nitish Kumar, a resident of Sector 46, recounted his struggle to cover a 5-km stretch in one hour on a bike due to the rain. “No one followed traffic rules, and the situation was uncontrollable,” he said.
“Even slight rain causes everything to fall apart. There’s total chaos and no one listens to the traffic police, who are struggling to manage vehicle movement,” Kumar added.
Power outages were also reported in parts of the city. Areas like Jal Vihar Colony in Sector 46, parts of Sector 45, Wazirabad, Samaspur, New Palam Vihar Colony, Sector 22, Basai and others experienced power disruptions, which was yet to be restored at the time of this report.
Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department has forecast light to moderate rain, with periods of heavy rainfall expected between September 14 and September 15 in Gurugram and its adjoining areas.
