Delay in dewatering, contractors’ lapses blamed as Gurgaon waterlogged, yet again

On Friday, Dahiya, during a review with his deputy Uttam Singh, said, “Immediate action must be taken upon receiving reports of waterlogging at any location, and pumps, suction machines, and other necessary resources must be kept fully ready.”

Mayhem  unfolds

The severity of the rain was felt across every corner of the city. An average rainfall of 60 mm was recorded, as per the district administration data. Sohna took the maximum brunt with 82 mm of rain, followed by Badshahpur at 74 mm and Wazirabad at 68.5 mm.

Across several parts, unfinished drainage work led to waterlogging on roads, causing massive inconvenience to locals. In the upsale Ardee City in Sector 52,  rainwater drain pits were left uncovered at a key stretch recently laid allegedly using sub-standard tiles, residents said. “Instead of being safely capped as mandated by the original tender specifications, these open pits were hidden beneath rising surface water due to rain, causing a major safety hazard,” RWA member Chaitali Mandhotra said, pointing to a lack of oversight on part of private contractors.

The delay in deploying suction pumps and dewatering equipment further aggravated the situation, residents across other upscale areas claimed.  Ahishek Sharma of C-2 Block at Palam Vihar said that waterlogged streets in his neighbourhood reminded him of annual monsoon mayhem.

On paper, the MCG has the largest workforce in the city among all the civic bodies in the city, alongside a heavy concentration of drain-clearing personnel and high-capacity pumps, a spokesperson said.

However, when heavy water accumulation hit master roads managed by the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), the transition of these resources across jurisdictional lines lagged significantly, officials seeking anonymity claimed. “As MCG’s rapid-response teams operate separately from GMDA’s arterial network units, discrepancies in response times and deployment speed allowed rainwater to pool for hours on major transit corridors, a senior GMDA official claimed.

In areas near Golf Course Road, the master drains reached saturation due to the torrential rain, MCG Ward 22 counsellor Vikas Yadav said. “The recording machine at my ward office saw over 100 mm of rain today… It is disastrous. Still, all pumps worked efficiently in my ward through online complaints on social media indicating otherwise,” he said.

Meanwhile, the GMDA acknowledged that choked drainage inlets are worsening flash floods in urban areas. GMDA CEO PC Meena has established 12 enforcement teams, bringing together junior engineers from enforcement and infrastructure divisions alongside municipal representatives.