Three hours of rain drown Millennium City in chaos

Just three and a half hours of pre-monsoon showers early Friday morning brought Gurugram and Faridabad to a standstill, exposing major gaps in monsoon preparedness despite official claims of readiness.

Gurugram received around 45 mm of rainfall, while the entire district recorded over 200 mm. High-end areas such as Southern Peripheral Road caved in, while prominent roads in New Gurugram, including Vatika Road, were submerged. Over 100 locations in the city reported waterlogging, more than 150 trees were uprooted, and widespread power outages were reported.

The situation was equally grim in Faridabad, where heavy rain and winds reaching speeds of 80 km/hour turned roads into water bodies. The NHC-Greenfield underpass was flooded, submerging a car and narrowly missing a tragedy. Authorities were forced to divert traffic from several key routes.

Ironically, Faridabad is the home constituency of Haryana’s Urban Local Bodies Minister, Vipul Goel. Speaking to The Tribune, Goel said, “Faridabad didn’t have much crisis. Gurugram, yes, waterlogging was reported, but the situation was better than previous times. We, however, are not taking this lightly. We have given one month to authorities to clean drains, manage monsoon arrangements, and ensure no crisis in monsoon.”

The rain, which began around 5 am and continued until 8.30 am, was accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning. Several parts of Gurugram, including DLF Phases 1-5, Sushant Lok, South City, Old Gurugram, and Udyog Vihar were severely affected. Traffic choked on NH-8 at Hero Honda Chowk, Rajiv Chowk, Narsinghpur, and on major arteries like Golf Course Road, Southern Peripheral Road, and Medanta Road.

Criticising the administration, Congress leader Pankaj Dawar said, “For the past nine years, Gurugram turns into ‘Jalgram’. They have spent crores and achieved nothing. BJP, local MLAs like Mukesh Sharma, state Minister Rao Narbir, and CM Nayab Saini owe answers to Gurugram. We demand cleaning of drains and proper arrangements.” Dawar has written to the Chief Minister regarding the matter.

Haryana Tribune