RAIN JAMS GURGAON AGAIN

Commuters were stuck for hours at Gurgaon’s Rajiv Chowk after rain on Friday.

GURGAON: Traffic went out of gear on Friday morning after few hours of rain caused water logging and brought Gurgaon to a standstill — a grim reminder of the massive traffic jam on July 28 last year.

Major crossings on DelhiGurgaon Expressway, Old DelhiGurgaon road, Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road and on other sector roads turned into bottlenecks and office goers remained stuck for over three hours.

Waterlogged roads and construction at Rajiv Chowk, Signature Tower crossing, Iffco Chowk and Maharana Partap Chowk slowed down vehicle movement. The jam started from Sirhaul toll plaza and Dundahera near the Delhi-Gurgaon border from 9am and kept swelling as office goers started moving towards Gurgaon. Vehicles were struck on Sector 22-23 road, between Jawala Mill and Dundahera, Atlas Chowk, Shankar Chowk and Iffco Chowk on the eastern side of the highway.

“I was stuck on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway for two hours at the Iffco Chowk, Sector 31 cut,” said Virender Poswal, who works on Sohna road.

The situation was so grim that Gurgaon police commissioner Sandeep Khirwar went to Rajiv Chowk to take stock of the situation. “All of us will get together and resolve challenges as they emerge,” Khirwar said. He said officials were deployed on roads since morning, which helped manage the situation better.

Commuters who took the Palam Vihar and Sheetla Mata roads found themselves stuck at Maharana Partap Chowk. “It is impossible to cross the highway from east to west. All chowks were jammed,” said Deeptiman Sharma, who works on Golf Course road in an IT firm.

In the evening, representatives of Gurgaon police, HUDA, MCG, GMDA and the district administration met to improve traffic management and discuss other issues related to monsoon. “An early warning system will be set up in collaboration with other agencies to ensure that rain at night does not catch us unawares. Teams have been formed and they will be deployed at 14 strategic points during monsoon,” said Khirwar.

The Delhi-Gurgaon expressway on NH8 was the worst-affected.

MAJOR CROSSINGS TURNED INTO BOTTLENECKS AND COMMUTERS WERE STUCK IN THE JAM FOR OVER THREE HOURS