Water, water everywhere: From Sushant Lok to Palam Vihar, Gurgaon residents battle monsoon deluge

Wazirabad tehsil, which includes the Sushant Lok block, recorded 32 mm of rain between 8 am and 5 pm on Tuesday, following 153 mm in the previous 24 hours. Across its various tehsils, the district recorded up to 160 mm of rain from 8 am Monday to 8 am Tuesday.

Residents The Indian Express spoke to said there’s been no solution despite the situation recurring every year.

“For the last five-six years, waterlogging has been a big issue here during each monsoon. Students struggle to go to school, and we residents are forced to buy supplies in bulk since we get stranded,” said Santosh Mishra, a priest from Bihar who lives in the block.

Another resident, Amit, said, “We are really suffering. This has been happening frequently over the last 2-3 years, each time it rains. We can barely move our cars in and out. Luckily, the water didn’t enter my home, but the street was flooded.”

Anita Yadav said the rain this time has been incessant, exacerbating their misery.

“The administration could have made better preparations in advance to mitigate this. Now the rising population is overwhelming the limited capacity of civic amenities”, she said.

On Monday, muddy water entered most homes in the locality. On Tuesday, residents parked their cars at the highest possible spots in anticipation of further waterlogging.

Earlier in the day, the Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA) deployed its own suction and tractor-mounted pumps to try and alleviate the situation. But with no natural place to drain the water, progress was slow.

Similar scenes of waterlogged stretches persisted until late Tuesday afternoon in Palam Vihar and Sector 23A, where RWAs flagged incomplete desilting works.

Check dams in the Aravalli region near Kadarpur village in Sector 63A also suffered damage on Tuesday, resulting in waterlogging. “Due to heavy rainfall since Sunday, some check dams in the Aravalli region breached, causing waterlogging in Kadarpur. With timely administrative and police action, evacuation and relief operations were carried out, bringing the situation under control,” a district administration spokesperson said.

A large pothole was also formed due to waterlogging at the Southern Peripheral Road section near Almeda Chowk. “Commuters are advised to drive cautiously in the area,” a traffic police spokesperson said.
Amid waterlogging woes, Gurgaon MLA Mukesh Sharma and Municipal Corporation Commissioner Pradeep Dahiya, along with civic officials, conducted a joint inspection of affected stretches and assessed drainage arrangements at various locations.

The inspection began at Civil Lines and extended to Agrasen Chowk. The MLA and Commissioner also directed officials to increase the number of pumps as needed and ensure water is drained in the shortest possible time, officials said.

During the inspection at Sheetla Mata Road, officials of the Gurgaon Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) were instructed by the commissioner to ensure swift water drainage during rains and to implement action plans for a permanent solution ahead of the next monsoon, officials added.

Additional pumps and machinery have been deployed across the city to tackle waterlogging effectively, a GMDA spokesperson said.

On Monday, traffic in Gurgaon was left crippled, with multiple videos on social media showcasing extensive traffic jams across several areas.

Amid forecasts of heavy rain, Gurgaon District Commissioner Ajay Kumar had on Monday advised corporate offices and private institutions to consider allowing employees to work from home, and schools to conduct online classes on Tuesday.