A few hours of heavy rain were enough to drown Gurugram, leaving thousands stranded on waterlogged roads and exposing the city’s poor planning once again.
Gurgaon heavy rain news today has once again wreaked havoc on daily life with the Millennium City once again flooded. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has also issued an orange alert for Gurugram weather today and asked residents to stay indoors and avoid travelling unnecessarily. However, by the time residents received the alert on their phones, thousands were already stuck in traffic jams, struggling out of the knee-deep water, and uploading pictures and multi-media on social media describing their calamity.
Parts of the city saw more than 100 mm of rain, with Wazirabad recording a staggering 116 mm in a matter of a few hours. The streets disappeared under water. Videos of bikes and cars floating away spread quickly through social media. Hero Honda Chowk, Narsinghpur, Golf Course Road and Sohna Road became unpassable, forcing people to abandon vehicles and walk home in mire through ankle-deep and knee-deep water. What should have been a refreshing morning in the monsoon, turned out to be hours of misery.
The worst affected route was the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway, which experienced a four-kilometer traffic jam causing some commuters to be stuck for six hours or more. A six-hour long journey taken by a Rapido driver became a story of resilience and endurance, while officegoers were expressing their frustration of being trapped in cars without food, water, or their phone signals. Social media’s trending topics, #GurgaonRains and #GurugramFloods have trending among residents who were comparing the city to “hell on earth”.
Immediately after the chaos, authorities announced a work from home arrangement for corporate offices and shifted schools to online classes. Over 5,000 police personnel were deployed, and heavy-duty pumps were pressed into service. But the chaos made clearer a greater, long-standing issue—a poorly-planned city in Gurugram. While Gurugram was marketed as a corporate hub of India, the city does not have a viable drainage system; rainwater has run nowhere for many years- natural water bodies and stormwater channels are paved over entirely, which puts even new residential sectors at risk. Critics have opined that Gurugram’s rapid expansion is a result of real estate growth only, with nothing being built-in terms of infrastructure, and what we see today is what we deserve for this mismanagement.
For ordinary citizens, this abysmal planning resulted in hardship, with families unable to leave home to purchase necessities, surge pricing increasing cab fare, and many officegoers opting to stay overnight at work rather than risk the flooded roads. Public outrage boiled with author Rahul Pandita stating Gurugram is, “a failed city, a big slum,” while some pointed out how less important towns do a better job of managing heavy rain!
With the IMD predicting additional rain over the next few days, there is likely to be further chaos for Gurugram residents who will be holding their breath all week. The Gurgaon heavy rain news today is more than just a monsoon weather event- it is a reminder how bad city planning leaves one of India’s most modern cities more or less uninhabitable, even after a few hours of rain!
