Torrential Downpour Overwhelms Gurugram: Flooding, Power Shortages Crippling the City - VIDEO (Paraphrased)
Gurugram Drowned: A heavy downpour in Gurugram, Haryana, on Friday left a sea of water, flooding key roads, residential areas, and disrupting traffic. Uprooted trees and power failures added to the chaos.
The rainstorm, starting around 5 am, quickly escalated, leading to extensive waterlogging within minutes. This chaos took place during the busy morning rush hour, creating a headache for traffic policemen trying to keep the flow moving.
Areas hardest hit included Hero Honda Chowk, Basai Road, Medanta Underpass, Galleria Market, Signature Tower, Huda City Centre, Iffco Chowk, Sector 14, Vatika Chowk, Sheetla Mata Mandir, and more. The Delhi-Jaipur-Mumbai highway was also significantly impacted. Estimates suggested that nearly 65 percent of the city was submerged in an average of 2.5 feet of water.
Residents turned to social media platform X to share the disturbing scenes from around the city.
Cops on High Alert
A senior police officer reported that they were on high alert as soon as it began to rain, taking positions strategically to manage the situation. He acknowledged the challenge of maintaining traffic flow in such conditions but emphasized their dedication to the task.
Misfortune in Delhi
Delhi too saw heavy rainfall that day, resulting in unfortunate incidents. A young woman and her three children perished when their house collapsed in Delhi's Najafgarh area due to a falling tree and strong winds. Moreover, flight disruptions occurred in Delhi and the National Capital Region due to strong winds, thunder, and heavy rain.
Details Behind the Deluge
The rain exceeded the city's drainage capacity, thanks to clogged sewers, poor maintenance of stormwater drains, and incomplete desilting of pipelines. The situation was further aggravated by the uprooting of trees and power failures.
According to reports, areas like Sector 4, 7, 10, 40, 45, 50, 52, Palam Vihar, and Ardee City experienced water levels reaching 2-3 feet. Critical roads such as Sohna Road, Basai Road, Delhi-Jaipur Expressway near Narsinghpur, and Sector 52 internal roads were submerged, causing massive traffic jams. Over 100 homes in Ardee City had ground-floor flooding.
Road to Recovery
Immediate steps were taken to clear the drains, inspect flooded areas, and resolve power outages, while the police managed traffic disruptions at key junctions like Jharsa Chowk and Mahavir Chowk. Long-term plans involve zonal engineers submitting reports to address drainage failures and permanent solutions. Residents voiced concerns over contractor negligence and systemic infrastructure flaws, especially in newer sectors.
The IMD warned that more rain was expected, making the recovery process more challenging.
- The weather-forecasting agency had predicted heavy rain in Haryana, particularly Gurugram, but failed to accurately forecast the extent of waterlogging and outages that occurred.
- The waterlogging and power outages caused by the heavy rain in Gurugram, Haryana, raised questions about the average quality of weather-forecasting and infrastructure maintenance, with residents pointing fingers at contractor negligence and systemic flaws.
- In response to the heroic efforts of traffic policemen who managed the chaotic situation during the heavy rain in Gurugram, residents called for the government to invest more in weather-forecasting to prevent future disasters and improve the city's infrastructure.
- In light of the weather disaster in Gurugram, there is a need for better weather-forecasting and infrastructure maintenance systems to prevent waterlogging, power outages, and similar incidents in the future, with a focus on areas like Sector 4, 7, 10, 40, 45, 50, 52, Palam Vihar, Ardee City, and more.
