New Delhi, July 29: Incessant rains have shut down Gurgaon, with its schools and offices closed and police assuming powers under Section 144 - normally used during curfew - to take control of cranes or other equipment to clear a traffic jam that lasted 24 hours.
National Highway 8, from Delhi to Jaipur, got flooded after 5pm yesterday with 46mm of rain falling in just three hours, Haryana chief secretary D.S. Dhesi said. According to the Met department, between 35.6mm and 64.4mm rainfall in a full day is classified as "rather heavy".
Traffic came to a standstill for almost 5km from Rajiv Chowk to Hero Honda Chowk - where rain water could not be pumped out into the Badshahpur drain that connects to the Najafgarh canal. Water levels rose to almost four feet in places. Many commuters spent all of last night in traffic, sleeping in their cars.
The jam also spilled over to the Sohna highway.
An inspection by Delhi's public works department today found that Badshahpur and two other Haryana drains were under construction in parts, with their discharge channelled into narrow drains that were not paved. These drains could not take the sudden load, officials said.
A series of embankments and drains put in place by the British that diverted storm water have given way to skyscrapers in Gurgaon, aggravating the flooding.
The water was pumped out by noon today, but the jam took several more hours to clear because many vehicles had broken down. The police spent the day using cranes to drag trucks off the highway.
Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said: "In the last 17 hours, people have been waiting on the road, they have been sleeping on top of vehicles, some abandoned their vehicles and returned home."
The blame game between politicians began last night, with Haryana chief minister M.L. Khattar tweeting on the slow pace of work on the Dwarka Expressway that would take pressure off NH8: "Mr. @ArvindKejriwal should be asked this. Frustrated by non-cooperation by Delhi Govt, we have got it declared as NH."
This morning Delhi's deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia tweeted back: "Changing Gurgaon to Gurugram won't bring development. For development you need to make plans and implement them. Platitudes won't clear the jam."
A gazette notification that will change the city's name for Gurgaon to Gurugram is pending.
Delhi also had its share of traffic snarls with the expressway to Noida jammed in parts, but it was nothing compared to that in Gurgaon where police commissioner Navdeep Virk cycled around the clogged roads all day supervising the decongestion. The police posted videos and tweets praising their role.
Gurgaon received 18mm of rainfall today.
