Heavy rain on Tuesday exposed the gaps in Gurugram's monsoon preparedness, as a stretch of the main road caved in near Narsinghpur on the Delhi-Jaipur highway. The road collapse threw traffic completely out of gear, forcing authorities to divert vehicles onto alternate routes.
Road Cave-In Triggers Panic Near Narsinghpur
The moment word spread that the road near Narsinghpur had caved in, panic gripped commuters passing through the stretch. Vehicles slowed to a crawl at the spot, and a long queue built up within minutes. As a precaution, authorities diverted traffic away from the damaged stretch to prevent any major accident.
Traffic Crawls From Rajiv Chowk To Kherki Daula
The downpour left several parts of Gurugram choked with traffic. Vehicles crept along bumper to bumper all the way from Rajiv Chowk to the Kherki Daula toll plaza. A kilometers-long jam built up on the Delhi-Jaipur highway itself, leaving office-goers stuck on the road for hours as they tried to make their way home. Many commuters took far longer than usual to reach home.
Rain Wreaks Havoc Across Delhi-NCR Too
Gurugram was not alone. According to news reports, the same spell of rain flooded large parts of Delhi-NCR as well. Just two hours of rain turned Delhi's Subhash Chowk into what looked like a small lake, while cars were seen partly submerged at the Pandav Nagar underpass. Trees fell and waterlogging shut down several stretches of road. In Gurugram, cars were seen stranded in floodwater right outside the residences of a district collector and a cabinet minister, while a roughly 10 kilometer jam built up on NH-48.
A Familiar Story With Every Monsoon
Waterlogging and traffic snarls on Gurugram's roads during the first spell of monsoon rain are not new. In recent years too, the season's opening showers have flooded city roads and triggered long jams on stretches like the Delhi-Jaipur expressway and Sohna Road. Plans for a master storm water drain on the highway's service road had been announced earlier to prevent such flooding, but this year's rain once again exposed the reality of the administration's preparations.
