Manohar Lal Khattar conducts aerial survey of Gurgaon to take stock of waterlogging problem

Gurgaon: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Monday conducted aerial survey of Gurgaon and took stock of the water-logging problem which brought traffic to a standstill last week.

Talking to reporters after the survey, he said the problem of water-logging at Hero Honda Chowk was an old one and the reason behind it was the shortcomings in planning during construction of National Highway-8. However, Gurgaon Municipal Corporation, District Administration and Irrigation Department are studying the causes of water-logging which resulted in massive traffic jam on 28 July.

He also checked the water level of Badshahpur and Najafgarh drains. Khattar said the Badshahpur drain has been encroached upon and has not been cleaned properly due to which rain water didn’t drain out. The Chief Minister said it was found during the survey that the Najafgarh drain was running up to to its full capacity and water in it was flowing at negligible speed because Delhi Government had constructed a barrage on Najafgarh drain at village Kankrola while no such dam exists in Haryana.

Thousands of acres of land along the Najafgarh drain in Haryana area was still submerged under water, he said. He added that this was a big problem for which a big scheme had to be prepared and he would write to the Central Government in this context.

The construction of flyover became another reason for water-logging at Hero Honda Chowk on NH-8, due to which only three lanes out of the six-lane of the Highway were operational, he said. Unprecedented heavy rains further worsened the situation and movement of traffic was hindered by large number of ‘Kanwariyas’ and airport taxis, who called off their strike at 3.30 pm that day, aggravated the situation, he added.

The Chief Minister acknowledged that traffic could have been regulated in a better manner.