If you only read or heard about the Delhi- NCR monster rains last week from the comfort of your homes- then you are surely one of the lucky ones, from the thousands, who suffered the utter chaos in Delhi-NCR!
The much awaited monsoon rains arrived in the last week of July’16 and they bought the entire Delhi, Noida and Millennium city- Gurugram, to a standstill!
After the 1st torrential downpour of the monsoons, Delhi road infrastructure collapsed and turned into a waterlogged city and one could see giant waterfalls from a distance!! The scenes were everywhere in the news, over social media – there were flooded roads, never ending traffic jams, overflowing drains, stranded commuters and angry residents. Drivers abandoned their cars after hours of wait and waded through knee deep water to get home. Schools were shut as parents panicked seeing the gigantic mess after the 1st day hellish rains. Most of the corporate offices in Gurugram had very little or no attendance! The unexpected rain also caused havoc at the Delhi airport due to which dozens of flights either got delayed or cancelled and which led to irate passengers being stranded at the airport.
Hundreds of people chose to outpour their frustration and anger through social media and chose ‘Facebook’ and ‘Twitter’ to update their miseries. There were sarcastic jokes of finding the new ‘Marine Drive’ in Gurgaon or people desperately trying to find the new ‘Ola boats’ through their mobile app.
The heavy downpour not only brought the national capital to a halt but created a havoc and disruption in the traffic and movement across the city. It was frustrating to see, people openly breaking traffic rules, cutting lanes, driving on the wrong side of roads and overtaking desperately to make their way, further aggravating an already poor condition. The thrill to race by the two wheelers and bikers continued and red light jumping was the most common feature of the day.
Matters worsened amongst BJP, Congress and AAP as each party pointed fingers and blamed each other for poor civil administration, planning and maintenance of the ‘Smart City’.
Meanwhile all the chaos created by the rains – there were news of some very horrifying road accidents in Delhi due to potholed roads. It is rather surprising that we are able to build Expressways and Metros in the midst of busy cities but when it comes to city roads, we fall flat on our face thanks to the deceitful contractors and corrupt politicians who ensures inferior and third quality work year after year!!
Why do our Municipal bodies work with such unplanned construction??
For starters, why can’t these contractors dump and get rid of construction material and debris from roads, before the rain hits the city??
The Delhi and Haryana government may have passed the buck on each other but the real question still remains – Who is to be blamed for road flooding and heavy traffic jams with just one downpour of rainfall??
These are just few questions that pops up my mind and have no answers even on ‘Google’.
I believe the fault lies with the ‘Authorities’ and ‘Delhi Government’ majorly. These Municipal authorities have a herculean task ahead of them to deal and fix the waterlogging and traffic problem that has hit the national capital recently.
For us, as law abiding citizens, we just need to be patient and try and follow traffic rules (as they are meant for our own safety) to face the next monsoon rain!
