The recent rains in Gurgaon made headlines in the media and rightly so. After all, who could have thought that some hours of rain could bring the city to a grinding halt. Not only did it highlight the infrastructural loopholes, but also gave G-towners a difficult time when they were least expecting it. We spoke to three of them, and this is their side of the story in their words.
"I began worrying after I crossed only 3.5 km in two hours. I had to drop one of my colleagues on Sohna Road, so I took the road from Rajiv Chowk to Medanta and then via Subhash Chowk to Sohna Road.
The moment I crossed Rajiv Chowk and hit the roads in Medanta, I found myself in choc-a-block traffic. You can imagine how waterlogged the road was as I could quite easily touch the water on the road just sitting in my Ertiga. I saw a Tavera, a Wagon R, and a Santro car floating in the water.
I thought to myself that it is impossible to cross that road. So, I decided to move up a fly-over to see what other options I had. But, it was the same story everywhere. It took me three hours to move back from that road. After about six hours, I was back to the point where I had started.
While I was grappling with the traffic and waterlogged road, my family, friends and colleagues were beginning to worry about me. Now, this is just my story. There were thousand others like me. Imagine their ordeal and what their families must have gone through.
I felt like telling every resident on Sohna Road to leave Gurgaon and settle somewhere else. And they call it Millennium City! We should change its name to Failure City. It would take another 100 years for this city to live up to its name."
"The scene in front of me was a horrible one. Everybody was stuck in the traffic jam and was yelling at one another. Cars could hardly move in any direction. There were hardly any traffic policemen. In fact, some of the commuters actually came out of their cars and started playing traffic police’s role. I was stuck for six hours and was able to reach my friend’s house only at 3 am. You can imagine my frustration."
"I divide my time between Australia and India, which is home to me. I always thought Gurgaon was safe and comfortable. But the harrowing experience has shaken me to the core.
I was returning from Delhi to my home on Sohna Road in the evening and got caught up in the traffic. Even in my worst nightmares, I didn’t envision the trauma that was to follow. The city, which is the hub of technology, lacks basic infrastructure. Every road was waterlogged with up to two feet of water resulting massive traffic jams, kilometres long. I was stuck on the road for over six hours sans food. And you know what, I am a diabetic. My sugar levels went haywire."
