Gurugram, which is known as Cyber City, Millennium City and the major corporate hub of the country, was once again seen struggling with waterlogging and traffic jams after heavy rains on Monday. Many major areas of the city were submerged in rain of a few hours. At some places school buses got stuck in water and at other places parents were seen carrying their children on their shoulders, wading through knee-deep water. There was a huge traffic jam on Rajiv Chowk-Sohna road and even ambulances were seen stuck in waterlogging.
According to the district administration, till 1:30 pm on Monday Gurugram 70 mm of rain was recorded. After the rain, there was heavy waterlogging in Narsinghpur, Hero Honda Chowk, Rajiv Chowk, IFFCO Chowk and many parts of Old Gurugram. Vehicles remained stuck in water around Rajiv Chowk. School buses and ambulances also had to deal with waterlogging on Sohna Road. Railway Road, Sector-5, Old Delhi Road, Mehrauli Road and Basai Road were also badly affected by the rain. Naharpur underpass was also flooded.
Parents carrying their children on their shoulders
After the rain, the most disturbing pictures of school children emerged. At many places the roads were so flooded that it became difficult for school buses to reach. Parents were seen walking through the water with their children sitting on their shoulders. The situation around Subhash Chowk also remained serious. Many school buses got stuck here due to waterlogging. The children present inside the buses parked in the water kept watching the situation outside. Due to rising water level on the roads, the speed of vehicles slowed down and long traffic jams occurred in many areas.
It rained in other parts of Haryana also on Monday. According to the Meteorological Department, 98 mm rainfall was recorded in Palwal, 58 mm in Faridabad, 48.5 mm in Mewat, 11 mm in Rewari and 0.5 mm in Karnal. There was no rain in neighboring Punjab on Monday and hot and humid weather prevailed at many places.
Work From Home advisory for 25th August
In view of the situation created after heavy rains in Gurugram, the district administration has issued an advisory for August 25. In this, all the corporate offices, government and private schools and educational institutions of the district have been advised to direct their employees and staff to work from home.
The administration says that this will reduce the number of vehicles on the roads and provide relief from traffic jams. Besides, it will be easier for civic agencies to carry out work related to repair, maintenance and drainage of roads and drains. People have also been appealed to plan their journey keeping in mind the weather and road conditions.
‘Same situation every monsoon, after all who will invest?’
Writer and columnist Suhail Seth also made a scathing attack on the administrative system regarding waterlogging in Gurugram. He said that the condition of the people living in Gurugram is very bad and flood like situations arise every monsoon.
Seth said that every year promises are made by the government and municipal bodies to solve the problem, but the situation does not change. He asked that if this is the condition of smart cities of the country then who would want to invest in India?
Suhail Seth said, ‘Every year people die due to electrocution amid waterlogging and traffic comes to a complete standstill. Tell me, if this is the condition of India’s smart cities then who would want to invest in India? Don’t we have any solution to these problems? The same situation is being repeated year after year.
Questioning administrative apathy, he said that people continuously raise these problems, but no one listens to them. He asked why the country’s most talented engineers are taking so much time to fix the problems of drainage and sewage?
Seth enumerated three major problems behind this. He alleged that there is large-scale corruption in granting building licenses, licenses are being given arbitrarily and no one is held accountable. He said, ‘This is completely shameful. What kind of Brand India are we building? It seems that people have no importance anymore. We are losing our way. We have a problem for every solution, whereas we should be creating solutions to problems.
Appealing to the Prime Minister and the government to intervene, Suhail Seth said that there is a need to wake up the responsible people running Haryana or other cities of the country, so that a permanent solution can be found to these problems that arise every year during the rains.
Flats worth crores, roads submerged in water outside
The problem of Gurugram also raises questions because it is one of the most expensive real estate markets in the country. There are apartments worth crores of rupees and big corporate buildings around Golf Course Road, Golf Course Extension Road and Dwarka Expressway. Despite this, submergence of roads in water in many areas during rains remains a persistent problem.
Every year new expressways, high-rise buildings and commercial projects come up in the city, but questions have been raised on the drainage system for a long time. People’s anger was also visible on social media during the rain. Many users shared videos and pictures of waterlogging and sought answers from the administration.
After all, why does Gurugram drown again and again?
Urban planner and architect Dr. Suptendu P. Biswas had cited unplanned urbanization as the main reason behind the problems of Gurugram. According to him, development took place first in Gurugram and then urban planning was done. High-rise buildings were built rapidly, but arrangements for drainage of sewage and rain water coming out of them were not developed in the same proportion.
He says that four-five decades ago there was no waterlogging like this in Gurugram. The natural drainage network was active then. The rain water coming from Aravali used to flow out through ponds, ponds and natural drains with the help of natural slope of the land.
But during rapid construction and urbanization, these natural drainage routes and water sources were affected. This is the reason why now as soon as there is heavy rain, water starts accumulating in many parts of the city. Monday’s rain has once again raised the question that when will the basic drainage system in Gurugram, which has tall buildings, expressways and big international companies, be at such a level that the city does not get stuck in water every monsoon.
—- End —-
Source link
[ad_3]
