GURUGRAM: Every spell of monsoon
showers in the city invariably raises the same question — what is the situation at
Hero Honda Chowk, which happened to be the main choke point of the infamous 2016 Gurujam?
Even two years after the horrific 20-hour-long
traffic gridlock, which had brought the city to a grinding halt, rain’s intensity and civic authorities’ preparedness are largely gauged on this one parameter.
Going by that assessment, after the past two-three days’ showers, civic officials claimed to have done a decent job, at least, in preventing a massive traffic bottleneck on the NH-8 stretch passing through this key junction.
Claiming a significant improvement, a senior official of Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (
GMDA) pointed out the city received 63mm rainfall over the past 36 hours — as against 54mm recorded within 24 hours on the July day that saw Gurujam two years ago — but there hasn’t been any major bottleneck at this junction.
The official claimed the authorities had taken a series of measures — set up pumping stations near Hero Honda Chowk, a trenchless boring at Khandsa Road Chowk, installed three additional pumps at Narsingpur and deployed a mobile pumping unit, among others — to keep the waterlogging situation under control. Apart from these, better coordination among different agencies seems to have worked in warding off any trouble so far this year. He said the situation would improve further in coming years once the revival of Badshapur drain, especially near NH-8, was completed. “There have been heavy showers in the past couple of days. But, we managed to avoid major snarls and keep traffic moving. We are working in close coordination with NHAI, traffic police and other departments — a big factor that has helped prevent a Gurujam rerun,†V
Umashankar, CEO, GMDA, told TOI on Friday. And GMDA officials are hopeful that this monsoon would not pose any serious threat at least at this junction.
Officials maintained that the lack of coordination was among the primary reasons behind the Gurujam, which had left hundreds of commuters stranded at this chowk for hours two years ago. Soon after, the state government had shunted out then Gurugram police commissioner Navdeep Singh Virk. It had also created a new post, Chief Governance Coordinator of Gurugram (CGCG), for better coordination during such calamities in future and appointed retired DGP SN Vashisht for the role.
Commuters, who cross the stretch daily to reach their office, agreed that the traffic situation had been slightly better this year. “Since Hero Honda Chowk is the focus area for everyone, the traffic situation has been better,†said Ajay Gautam, a Sector 15 resident.
However, there are other areas, like Old Delhi-Gurugram Road and
MDI Chowk, where traffic jams have been a cause for concern. “We are still grappling with waterlogging at MDI Chowk. A pipeline has to be laid up to Atul Kataria Chowk for draining out rainwater. We have just received clearance from the forest department for this project,†said Umashankar.
Waterlogging near Signature Towers and Golf Course Road has also irked commuters. A GMDA engineer blamed mega infrastructure projects by various agencies for missing drainage links there. “The recently built underpass at Signature Towers has blocked the drainage. The same is the case on Golf Course Road. Implementing agencies need to ensure that their work does not block storm water drains and other such utilities,†he said.
