Gurgaon Rains: Haryana Chief Minister Conducts Aerial Survey

Gurgaon: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Monday conducted an aerial survey of Gurgaon and took stock of waterlogging situation and roads damaged in the wake of heavy rain last week.

Talking to the media after the survey, he said waterlogging at the Hero Honda Chowk was an old problem and the shortcomings in the National Highway-8 construction were responsible for the same.

He said that the construction of a flyover led to waterlogging at the Hero Honda Chowk, due to which only three of the six lanes of the national highway were operational. Two heavy vehicles broke down on the service lane, resulting in road blockade. Unprecedented heavy rain further worsened the situation.

However, the Gurgaon Municipal Corporation, the district administration and the Irrigation Department were studying the causes of waterlogging in the area, which resulted in a massive traffic jam on July 28.

The Chief Minister said the Badshahpur drain had been encroached upon and was also not cleaned properly, due to which the rainwater could not be disposed of quickly.

Mr Khattar said special corrective measures will have to be taken to ensure that the commuters did not face traffic snarls due to waterlogging in future.

The Chief Minister said a survey revealed that the Najafgarh drain too was filled to capacity and the water flow was negligible as the Delhi Government had constructed a barrage on the drain at Kankrola village.

He said thousands of acres of land along the Najafgarh drain in Haryana was still inundated. He said he will write to the Centre to formulate a scheme to redress the problem.

The Chief Minister admitted that traffic could have been regulated in the area on July 28 in a better manner.

Traffic on the Delhi-Jaipur stretch was hit on Thursday evening as hundreds of commuters were stuck at the Hero Honda Chowk in over four feet of water due to breaches in the Badshahspur drain. The traffic on the stretch resumed only on July 29 evening.