Afternoon rain floods roads, delays drive back home

GURUGRAM: It

rained

in most parts of the city for 45 minutes on Friday afternoon, leaving roaods flooded and commuters battling traffic gridlocks.

Congestion and flooding were reported from many places, including

IFFCO Chowk

, Rajiv Chowk, Sohna road and Old Delhi-Gurgaon road. Underpasses at Rajiv Chowk and

Hero Honda Chowk

were flooded, which led to jams on NH-8, and tailbacks into surrounding areas, including Udyog Vihar, Cyber City, sectors 16, 18 and 49. Reports of trees getting uprooted were also received from Sushant Lok and Palam Vihar.

“I was stuck at IFFCO Chowk. It usually takes me 20-25 minutes to reach office in Cyber City from home in Sector 31. Friday’s rain led to a massive traffic jam and it took me an hour to reach home,” said Sushant Yadav. “While traffic congestion is usual on Friday evenings, today’s experience was harrowing. I left office early (at 4pm) as soon as rain stopped. I wanted to avoid traffic as I had an appointment with a doctor. The hospital is 3km from my office, yet it took 45 minutes to reach,” said Shikha Singh, another resident.

Even though rain stopped at around 4.30 pm, residents of Sushant Lok, Jacobpura and sectors 4 and 7 faced power cuts till late evening. Sushant Lok 1 resident Karan Sahni said, “Power was disconnected as soon as rain and strong winds started. Till now (7.30 pm), it hasn’t been restored.”

“Disconnecting power during rain has become a norm. There is no power in our area for four hours. We’ve called up discom officials a couple of times. Now they’ve stopped taking calls,” said Sector 7 resident Nitin Tiwari.

According to the Met department, there is a forecast of light to moderate rainfall along with thunderstorms on Saturday. Maximum temperature is also expected to go up by 1-2 notches over the weekend. The average maximum and minimum temperature in the city on Friday was 31°C and 28°C, respectively, and rainfall received was 13mm.