Waterlogging and traffic snarls were reported from multiple places across the city following a fresh spell of rain on Thursday morning. 

Atlas Chowk, Vatika Chowk, Krishna Chowk near Palam Vihar, parts of Golf Course Road and the service lanes of Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway between Hero Honda Chowk and Kherki Daula were some of the areas where the issue was pronounced, with traffic jams lasting upwards of 30 minutes in these areas. Flooding was also reported on internal sector roads in some areas, such as Sectors 22 and 23.

The city received 25 mm (millimeter) rain till 5pm while adjoining areas such as Sohna received 16mm, Pataudi 26mm, Manesar 20mm and Farrukhnagar 12mm, the district administration informed.

This is the third time this month, after July 4 and July 16, that widespread waterlogging was reported from different parts of the city following rain. However, the amount of rain recorded on Thursday was much less than on the earlier occasions, eliciting concern from residents over the state of affairs for the remainder of the monsoon.

Kalpana Chauhan, who was stuck in a traffic jam near Cyber City on Thursday morning for almost 40 minutes, said, “Even without continuous rains the situation has become difficult. I wonder how the administration will be able to check urban flooding when the monsoon sets in.”

Commuters said traffic moved slowly between Hero Honda Chowk and Narsinghpur in the morning as service lanes of Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway were waterlogged, and the situation remained the same till late afternoon.

Pumps installed by the
highways authority were operational, but officials said the entire operation could only be completed by 4pm.

“The water from villages and residential colonies adjacent to the highway gets collected in the service lanes. We have installed pumps, but it takes time to remove all the water from these lanes. Today, the lanes were cleared by 4pm. Traffic movement on the highway remained smooth,” said Vishnuprian, manager at the MCEPL, the highway concessionaire.

Gurugram traffic police said their men were out in the field since morning ensuring that movement of vehicles was not hampered due to waterlogging. Traffic police officials could be seen directing the traffic and stopping the entry of vehicles in the service lane on the Delhi-Jaipur carriageway. 

Assistant commissioner of police (traffic) Ashok Kumar said, “In most cases, whenever there is waterlogging in an area, smaller vehicles and those run on CNG get stuck leading to snarls. The traffic inspectors and quick response teams have towing straps and they remove vehicles that breakdown from the spot. We have assigned traffic officials to waterlogging-prone spots so they can help people cross the stretch.”

He added that the traffic police have identified sensitive areas in the city and are focusing on decongesting those stretches.

“We have specially deployed cranes and officials for sensitive spots like Sohna Chowk, Narsinghpur and Vatika Chowk. In close co-ordination with the GMDA and the MCG, we identified the causes of traffic jams and have made technical interventions,” he said.

First Published: Jul 18, 2019 23:06 IST