Heavy rain triggers chaos in Gurugram

According to the district administration, Gurugram received 110mm of rainfall, which is classified a “heavy” spell by the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Further, Gurugram recorded two “very intense” spells of rainfall, clocking 30mm of rain between 9.30am and 10.30am and a further 39mm between 10.30am and 11.30am.

Weather experts also shared data from multiple localities in the city, most of which recorded over 100mm of rainfall. Among those, Sector 51 clocked 124.4mm of rainfall, which was the highest.

IMD officials attributed the torrential rain to a low-pressure zone that formed above Haryana and Delhi from a cyclonic circulation.

As the streets got waterlogged and stormwater drains clogged, vehicles were seen crawling on the roads, leading to major traffic congestion across the city. Commuters also had a harrowing time as vehicles broke down on flooded streets.

“The rainwater submerged key intersections and service lanes, leaving vehicles stranded and commuters wading through knee-deep water. To ensure commuters’ safety, the authorities closed several inundated underpasses, subways and roads, including near Sector 38, and the roads at DLF phases 1 and 3, Sectors 4, 5, Palam Vihar, and Suncity Township,” said Kusum Sharma, a resident of Suncity Township in Sector 54.

IMD officials issued a warning of heavy rainfall in Gurugram, Faridabad, Palwal, Mewat, Rewari, Mahendragarh and Jhajjar for Monday. There is an additional warning of heavy to very heavy rainfall likely to take place at isolated places in Haryana from Monday to Thursday. Also, earlier an alert was issued for heavy to very heavy rainfall in Gurugram, Panchkula, Ambala, Yamunanagar and Faridabad on Sunday, it added.

Surendra Paul, director, IMD Chandigarh station, said, “We also have a monsoon trough, a low-pressure system, that brings rainfall in a normal condition. “It was earlier active towards the Himalayan foothills but shifted southwards and came to the plains due to which we are observing good rainfall activity in the last 24 to 48 hours,” Paul said.

He added that besides, the system of moisture-laden winds from the Bay of Bengal have also become active and improved recently, contributing to the rainfall activities.

“The rainfall activities in southern Haryana and neighboring areas of Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR) will continue for the next three to four days, after which it will likely come down and then pick up again,” Paul said.

Gurugram recorded a maximum temperature of 30.7 degrees Celsius (°C) and a minimum of 26.9°C on Sunday. The Air Quality Index (AQI) measured for Gurugram on Sunday was in “satisfactory” category (97).

Gurugram deputy commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav said emergency teams were deployed across the city to manage the situation. “We have stationed cranes and police vans at key stretches to assist with vehicle breakdowns, and our teams are working round the clock to pump out water from flooded areas,” he said. Yadav reluctant residents to avoid potholed roads and venturing out unless necessary.

Siddhant Jain, deputy commissioner of police (south), said that they have deployed teams at all key stretches to help commuters. “We have barricaded underpasses. The areas are waterlogged, and the condition will improve once the rain stops. “Till then, all the civic agencies are doing their best,” he added.

“Following the overnight downpour, many blocks in Sushant Lok 2 and 3, which have been under MCG’s maintenance for two years, faced severe waterlogging, with water entering villas and apartments. Despite efforts like cleaning stormwater lines and connecting them to the main network, the problem persists. Blocks near Golf Course Extension Road and Rajesh Pilot Marg are particularly affected due to water flowing from surrounding areas. The lack of natural stormwater flow requires frequent crisis management,” said Sudakshina Laha, GMDA Residents Advisory Council Member and General Secretary of RWA Sushant Lok 2 & 3.

Commuters’ nightmare

The situation was equally grim on the Delhi-Gurugram Expressway, where commuters faced severe challenges crossing the Narsingpur stretch as both the main carriageway and service lanes were submerged. “I was stuck for nearly two hours on the expressway. I had to push my car through a flooded area,” said Raghav Sharma, a commuter traveling from Delhi to Gurugram.

Residents expressed frustration over the city’s drainage system, which they claimed was ill-equipped to handle such downpour. “We were scheduled to travel to Jaipur, but had to cancel our plan as the roads were completely inaccessible,” said Sunil Verma, a resident of Sushant Lok.

Ajay Sharma, member of Tulip Ivory Residents Welfare Association in Sector 70, slammed the builders and the administration for the recurring waterlogging issues. “For years, builders neglected desilting of drains, and even after MCG took over, there’s been little improvement,” she said.

Many residents took to social media to express their anger and share photos of the flooded roads. “The stormwater drains are choked with garbage and plastic. It’s the same story every year — flooded roads and water seeing into our homes,” said Baljeet Singh Rathee, president of the DLF Qutub Enclave Residents Welfare Association (QERWA).

Many took to social media to share photos and videos of waterlogged roads as well as express their frustration against the administration.

Residents rue flooding

Dinesh Vashisht, president, Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA), Sectors 3, 5 and 6, said that the water entered several houses in the area as no desilting has been done in the sector despite repeated complaints. “The sector is flooded with water and more than 50 houses suffered damage to their property after water entered their bedrooms and living areas. There is knee-deep water and people cannot move out of the house unless pumps are used to clear the colony. “We are fed up with the waterlogging condition in the sector,” he said.

At least 20 two-wheeler riders and cyclists suffered injuries after they were unable to spot potholes and several of them lost their balance and fell on Golf Course Extension Road, Sector 69, Sector 5, Basai Road , Sohna Road, Hero Honda Chowk and Narsingpur .

MCG commissioner Narhari Singh Bangar said that the waterlogging was due to heavy rainfall and not because there were blocked drains or lack of machineryries on the stretches. “The entire teams of MCG were deployed on the stretches and pumps were used to remove excessive water. The manholes were opened to manage water flow and tractor trolleys were parked on to avoid any mishap but to heavy waterlogging. “We took round of the city to check if there was any major issue due to any negligence on any official part or contractor but the teams were managing waterlogging standing knee deep in water for the last 12 hour,” he said.

“Gurugram witnessing heavy rainfall and waterlogging was reported at Medanta road, Sector 23, Mayfield Garden, Narsinghpur, Old Delhi Road, Subhash Chowk,” Vikram Singh, Executive Engineer, GMDA.

Admin on alert

In response to the heavy rainfall that caused significant waterlogging in Gurugram over the weekend, the district administration has remained on high alert. On Sunday, deputy commissioner (DC) Nishant Kumar Yadav personally inspected critical areas across the city to ensure public safety and oversee the ongoing drainage operations.

Officials from MCG and Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) accompanied the DC during the inspection.

Following the 110 mm rainfall in the city, Yadav visited several key areas, such as Rajiv Chowk, Medanta Road, Tau Devi Lal Stadium, Sushant Lok Phase 1, Galleria Market T-Point Red Light, Old Delhi Road at Comrade Babru Bhan Yadav Marg , and others to assess the situation.

Yadav stated that the district administration had already prepared for such an eventuality by identifying 112 critical points prone to waterlogging in the city. “To manage these areas, 14 HCS-level officers were assigned responsibility, with each officer supervising seven to eight locations. Due to the administration’s preparedness, all underpasses remained operational on Sunday, and no significant water accumulation occurred on the main carriageway of NH-48,” he said.