From Waterlogging To Traffic In Gurugram: What Minister ML Khattar Told NDTV

Union Urban Affairs Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, who served as the Chief Minister of Haryana for 10 years from 2014 to 2024, said connectivity has improved in Gurugram and traffic during normal days, when it doesn't rain, has improved compared to pre-2014.

The minister, speaking at the NDTV Real Estate Conclave, said, "Delhi settled way before Gurugram did. Planning of the city in Haryana started around 2010, and by 2013, some work was done, but in 2014, when the BJP came to power, the situation was bad, with traffic jams at several places in Gurugram, like IFFCO Chowk, Hero Honda Chowk and Rajiv Chowk."

He added that "whenever someone got stuck here, they couldn't get out of it for two hours, whether a car or a scooter, but when it came, we renovated everything...we made a bypass, underpasses." However, when Mr Khattar was asked, despite the development, the city comes to a halt during heavy rain, to which he said, "During a normal routine (when it doesn't rain), there is no traffic jam, because the connectivity has improved."

#NDTVRealEstateConclave | Urban Affairs Minister ML Khattar explains the measures he took to fix Gurugram's traffic problem @mlkhattar pic.twitter.com/DJNLJXcmEf

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This month, incessant rain caused waterlogging in several parts of the city, and on July 10, the authorities issued an advisory to companies to allow employees to work from home to avoid traffic congestion because of the traffic whenever it rains in the city. Someone of the most posh areas of Gurugram, Millennium City, was submerged after heavy rain. Urban planning and the poor drainage system of Gurugram are blamed for the waterlogging situation, which gets worse every year when it rains heavily.

Mr Khattar said he is "worried" about the waterlogging situation in Gurugram. The former Chief Minister of Haryana said, We have to the planning in the beginning, how much water is there, and what is the command area of the water... Earlier, the rainwater would flow out and go to the fields, lakes, and there was no need to worry...But now, the whole area is covered with roads and houses, and there is no place for water to stop."

"There should be more drains and sewage systems that should have been made earlier...Even now, we have made many," the minister said.

While explaining the waterlogging in the underpasses during rain, Mr Khattar said, "Water fills up quickly in the underpass, but after 2 hours the water comes and whenever there is heavy rain, not just in India but also abroad, if waterlogging happens, after 1-1.5 hours it comes out, which means the system is fine."

'Can't Uproot An Entire System Overnight'

NDTV asked, 10 years is enough for an authority to fix the drainage system, but why do we keep saying that the rain pattern has changed in the last decade? Mr Khatter responded by saying, "Work is being done continuously, and once a city is settled, then you can't uproot a system overnight and make a new one. When any work goes on for 2-3 years, we cannot do anything during that period. It takes time to redevelop all these systems."

He added that even in Lutyens Delhi, the power centre of India, the rainwater flows to the Barapulla drain, which is on top, but the Lutyens drain is below...Now, how will the water flow to Barapulla? Lower the Barapullaa drain...but the Yamuna is full of mud and its water backflows. During heavy rain in some areas of Lutyens, there is at least two feet of waterlogging."