90-min rain floods parts of Gurugram, more showers, storms in store

On the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway, traffic was held up at Sirhaul toll; commuters took nearly 40 minutes to cross the stretch.

Heavy rain, accompanied by lightening and strong winds, hit the city in the second half of Friday, with some parts experiencing a brief shower of hail, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

Waterlogging was reported near AIT Chowk on the Golf Course Road. The situation on internal roads was also bad, with residents complaining of heavy waterlogging in Sikanderpur, Cyber City, South City 1-2, DLF Phases 1-2, sectors 10, 28, 29, 47, and 50.(HTPhotos)

While residents were temporarily relieved of the heat, the 90 minutes of rain, between 8pm and 9.30pm, left several parts of the city waterlogged and hit traffic on Sohna Road, the Sikanderpur-Cyber City stretch and Gurgaon-Faridabad Road.

At Sohna Road, areas around Subhash Chowk were heavily waterlogged, leaving commuters with only lane to travel on. It took commuters over 40 minutes to cross the 3km stretch from Subhash Chowk to Vatika Chowk. “There was little traffic police officials could do. There was two-feet deep water around Subhash Chowk,” Harshit Shukla, a resident of Sector 50, said.

On the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway, traffic was held up at Sirhaul toll; commuters took nearly 40 minutes to cross the stretch. Similarly, people were stuck in queues at the toll booth near Bandhwari on the Gurgaon-Faridabad Road.

“Traffic movement on the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway remained largely unaffected by rains. There was no waterlogging reported anywhere between the Kherki Daula toll to Rao Tularam Marg in New Delhi. The volume of vehicles and congestion on Friday night was the same as any other day,” an official of the National Highways Authority of India’s control room that oversees traffic along NH-48 said.

However, waterlogging was reported near AIT Chowk on the Golf Course Road. The situation on internal roads was also bad, with residents complaining of heavy waterlogging in Sikanderpur, Cyber City, South City 1-2, DLF Phases 1-2, sectors 10, 28, 29, 47, and 50.

Meanwhile, the day temperature rose by a degree on Friday and settled at 37.4°C—3°C below normal for this time of year.

The minimum temperature was 24.6°C—2°C below normal for this time of the year.

The IMD has forecast rain or thundershowers with strong gusty winds on Saturday. “The rain and thunderstorm activity over the northwestern plains the last three or four days have been a result of two successive Western Disturbances,” an IMD spokesperson said, adding that the day and night temperatures would be around 37°C and 25°C on Saturday. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday would be partly cloudy