- An elderly man struggled with his scooty in knee-deep water on a Gurugram road
- Residents reported frequent civic infrastructure collapse after even short rains
- Traffic on Delhi-Jaipur Expressway slowed as roads flooded, causing massive delays
An elderly man in white kurta-pyjama waded through knee-deep water on a road, looking at his half-submerged scooty.
Behind him, down the same road, a young girl in a green t-shirt of a quick commerce app pushed her two-wheeler through muddy water, likely mixed with sewage from the drain attached to the road.
Two students carrying schoolbags above their heads walked slowly as they felt the ground's stability before taking each step. There was no way to tell if the road had any large pothole or worse, open manholes.
This was one of the scenes today at a small corner of Gurugram after just an hour of rain. Now, the city adminitration has annnounced work-from-home (WFH) to manage the situation.
Residents of the 'Millenium City' have complained that the collapse of civic infrastructure keeps repeating every time there is rain of a slightly longer duration. The worst-hit today after it rained for about an hour was Patel Nagar, residents said, though many other localities also reported flooding at public areas.
Students walking home from school ran towards higher ground, such as bus stops on a raised platform, to avoid falling into trouble.
Many drivers were seen leaving their cars after the engines stalled. It was worse for two-wheeler riders who had no choice but to either push through or leave their vehicles sideways since dropping the stand was impossible due to the uneven ground, hidden from view by water.
The rain also slowed down traffic on the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway, forcing thousands of vehicles to crawl despite the road having enough width to accommodate quite a lot of them for running nearabout the speed limit.
Outside Magnolias, where some flats sell for over Rs 50 crore, the roads had turned into rivers of sorts.
"The drainage system in Gurugram is abysmal. One can keep posting, keep demanding accountability but nothing changes. Nothing!" a post on X said.
The stretch from Signature Tower to Hero Honda Chowk, which usually took 15 minutes to cover, took at least 50 minutes today, commuters said.
A large section of the expressway near Cyber Hub, opposite Gateway Tower Metro station, was submerged, disrupting traffic on the major thoroughfare. Sheetla Mata Road, which has emerged as one of Gurugram's flood-prone locations this monsoon, was among the worst affected.
The district administration said Gurugram received 70 mm of rainfall by 1.30 pm. Key areas including Rajiv Chowk, IFFCO Chowk, Railway Road, Sector 5, Old Delhi Road, Mehrauli Road and Basai Road were some of the most affected.
