Rain throws traffic out of gear in Gurgaon, residents harried

Tribune News Service

Gurgaon, July 28

Heavy rain lashed Gurgaon this evening, leaving in its wake waterlogged roads and massive traffic jams, specially near the Huda City Centre Metro Station.

The rain was relentless for about an hour which brought with it familiar tales of waterlogging and ensuing traffic jams in various places.

The rains left much of the city under water. The worst affected were the two roads branching off from Sector 15 Part II.

“The road opposite my house was submerged. A few neighbours had uprooted the footpath for their convenience. Despite assurance to repair the road in a week’s time and without taking permission from the local municipal corporation, it has not been repaired yet and has now become worse due to rain,” said a resident of Sector 15 Part II.

There is no proper drainage in the entire city which leads to worst situation during rains. Though traffic cops were seen doing their best to manage traffic, they were not of much help.

“It normally takes only 10 minutes from my home to reach Huda City Metro Station. But today it took me two hours. Every time it rains, the entire city comes to a standstill,” said Agum, a local resident.

A major part of the old city area was submerged and Sheetla Mata road, Atul Kataria chowk and Old Delhi-Gurgaon road witnessed traffic jam.

The traffic police blamed the chaos on poor drainage and bad engineering of roads.

Sonepat: Heavy rains lashed the various parts of the district today. Over 68 mm rain was recorded in Sonepat, 26 mm in Gannaur, 20 mm in Kharkhoda. Only 10 mm rain was recorded in some areas of the Gohana sub division.

The downpour led to overflowing sewers, waterlogging and traffic jams in various parts of the town.

However, the rains brought relief to the farmers as paddy requires plenty of water. The power demand is also expected to decline.

Power demand drops

Chandigarh: As rains reduce power demand in the state, the authorities concerned claim they are ready to meet any increase in demand. The demand for electricity dropped to 1,803 lakhs units (LUs) on Wednesday evening. Earlier, it was around 1,900 LUs. As compared to the peak demand of 9,113 MW recorded last year, the demand for electricity shot up to a record high of 9,257 MW on July 22. Nitin Yadav, Managing Director, UHBVN, said: “We have made arrangements. There is no shortage of power in Haryana.” He said apart from state’s own generation units, the discoms arranged power from HP, J&K, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Meghalaya, Manipur and Chhattisgarh. tns