Rains leave Gurugram roads in tatters, again

A few spells of heavy rain and scattered showers have millennium city roads in tatters. The city that has spent over Rs 200 crore for the past one year on road repair and maintenance has till now suffered a cumulative loss of over Rs 80 crore. Around 40 roads have been severely damaged this monsoon.

Flooded with complaints, authorities identified over 300 potholes on roads, a majority of which were repaired within an year. Having hit international headlines owing to water logging, Gurugram is making news yet again with netizens claiming city "roads worse than Uganda" after rain washed away the work done on them.

Gurugram residents have in different surveys cited poor roads as the second biggest crisis after sanitation. “We live in flats worth Rs 4 core, but we don’t have any access to delivery of essential items during monsoon. Delivery boys who use bikes have met with accidents on roads. They are wary of coming here,” says Meenakshi Yadav, a resident of Sector 93.

Budget up, but no improvement

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram has increased its annual budget allocation for road development by four times and allocated ₹80 crore for road development this year

Advertisement

The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority has around Rs 500 crore budget set aside for road projects, including underpasses and flyovers at congested points

The rain on July 31 battered roads in New Gurugram, slip roads of Dwarka expressway, newly constructed Sector 92 to 95 road, connecting roads of Sectors 90, 91 and 92 in front of Bestech Sanskriti Society. New Gurugram, popularly called ‘Gurugram of Tommorrow’, is a booming realty market. Surrounded by highways like SPR and Dwarka Expressway, it is the consomenium hub of the NCR. The flats range from anywhere between Rs 2.5 crore and Rs 10 crore here. While the per sq ft rates surge with each passing day, the fate of roads remain the same. The majority of these roads fall in the GMDA's jurisdiction and have been laid and relaid. While many turn into small ponds, others resemble moon surface during rains.

Will blacklist contractors

We are in touch with all civic agencies. The repairs start immediately after rain. We will be penalising and blacklisting contractors who do not deliver quality work. Roads once repaired now will not have any complaints

Pradeep Dahiya, MCG Commissioner

“Monsoon is a double whammy for residents. We don’t just suffer when it rains, but also months after as roads are broken. It is an annual affair for us. When rains leave roads cratered, authorities go for band-aid solutions, which come off in the second spell. Despite multi-crore tenders, the road is gone by the next monsoon,” says Praveen Malik, President, United Association of New Gurugram.

Residents claim that the poor quality of roads is impacting their day-to-day life. School buses and delivery boys are skeptical to visit their societies. Even ambulances take much time to reach their destination owing to poor condition of roads. Many residents have abandoned using two-wheelers after meeting with accidents.

“We are touted as the biggest residential market today, but nobody wants to buy my apartment. The access road to our society is cratered. Even internal streets were in bad shape, but residents pooled in our money and built them,” says Rakesh Saini, a resident of Ansal API Society in Sector 66 .The woes are not just confined to New Gurugram, but areas like Sector 17, Sector 15, Sector 14, Sector 23, Palam Vihar, Sushant Lok, DLF phases 1-5, South City, Rezang La Chowk are also struggling with cracked surfaces, exposed gravel and water-filled potholes.

According to a 2024 survey of the Gurugram traffic police, potholes lead to over 50 per cent of accidents during monsoon. Cops have constantly been blaming poor roads for traffic snarls-up and have now started filling potholes themselves.

“Owing to big craters and potholes, traffic turns from four and six lane to single on many roads. Potholes also lead to vehicle breakdowns and accident. The traffic teams now keep equipment and materiel with them and fill potholes to keep the city going,” said a spokesperson for the Gurugram police.

“We are in touch with all civic agencies. We have received complaints and doing our own surveys. The repairs start immediately after rain. We will be penalising and blacklisting contractors who do not deliver quality work. Roads once repaired now will not have any complaints,” said Pradeep Dahiya, MCG Commissioner.