Gurugram: Crores pumped in but drains unable to cope

GURUGRAM: The city’s main stormwater drain, blamed for widespread waterlogging every time there is a spell of heavy rainfall, has undergone a revamp, a widening that has increased its carrying capacity that the authorities believed would reduce the flooding problem.
But spending over Rs 300 crore on Badshapur drain has evidently not achieved the desired result, if Monday’s inundation of roads is to be seen as proof.Officials of the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) and MCG admitted as much.
GMDA chief engineer Pardeep Kumar told TOI, “The rains started around 3am on Monday and its intensity increased over the next one hour. It rained heavily for almost four hours. The main reason behind the waterlogging was the Badshapur drain flowing in its full capacity and unless the water level came down, it could not take in any more water from the stormwater drains.”
MCG officials concurred with their GMDA counterparts and said the Badshapur drain flowing to capacity was the main reason behind Monday’s waterlogging across the city. “Sectors 9, 9A and 10 are at the end of free flow of rainwater since water from Baliawas and Ghata also passes through these sectors. The problem is that the stormwater drains were running at their full capacity,” said Pradeep Ahlawat, joint commissioner (Zone-1).
GMDA officials reiterated that they have proposed to construct another drain for the bifurcation of rainwater from Vatika Chowk towards NH-48 along SPR, which will reduce the load on Badshapur drain. However, this proposal has been hanging fire for over two years now. The GMDA chief engineer, however, did not respond to queries on the status of the project.
MCG officials also mentioned a plan to build an additional drain near Basai to contain water from sectors 4,7,9 and 10.
Thakur Lal Sharma, MCG chief engineer, said, “The area surrounding the Najafgarh drain is flat and has no slope due to which water accumulates there and the western area of the city gets inundated. GMDA has proposed a two-metre-wide drain on the western side of Basai road and we recommend that a drain should also be constructed in the eastern side so that rainwater from sectors 4, 7, 9 and 10 can easily drain out.”