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This story is from July 29, 2016

From Millenium to Maximum, rain cripples major Indian cities

Gurgaon, marketed as the 'Millennium City', was stuck. So was India's gleaming IT capital, Bengaluru. Hyderabad too was crippled by traffic jams on Friday and so was the 'Maximum City', Mumbai. Put simply, Friday was a mess in a number of major Indian cities.
From Millenium to Maximum, rain cripples major Indian cities
Vehicles make way through a waterlogged road in Gurgaon. (PTI Photo)
Key Highlights
  • The NH8 Delhi-Gurgaon highway saw traffic brought to a standstill due to clogged roads.
  • The Western Express Highway in Mumbai saw traffic crawl.
  • Most parts of Bengaluru reported massive jams. Boats were used to rescue stranded people.
NEW DELHI: Put simply, Friday was a mess in a number of major Indian cities. Waterlogging caused by heavy rains over the past few days led to nightmarish traffic jams, even as some cities dealt with flood-like situations in low lying areas. Public anger and political wrangling over the civic catastrophes became the norm in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and the National Capital Region.
Gurgaon, marketed as the 'Millennium City', was stuck.
Traffic barely moved an inch on the critical NH8 and vehicles remained stranded at the same spot for hours. The Badshahpur drain, which carries stormwater, was blamed as a breach in it led to several feet of waterlogging in the area. However, areas like MG Road, Subhash Chowk, Sohna Road, Palam Vihar, old Delhi-Gurgaon Road were decongested by afternoon.
Gurgaon
Schools in Gurgaon have been ordered shut for 2 days. (PTI photo)
India's gleaming IT capital, Bengaluru, spent even more time stuck in traffic than usual. Traffic police and fire services personnel hit the ground, attempting to pump the water out of the major thoroughfares. Boats had to be pressed into service in some parts to evacuate residents stranded by flooding.
Bengaluru
A view of a road in Bengaluru submerged under rain water. (TNN Photo: Sreemoyee Chatterjee)
Another IT city, Hyderabad, was crippled by traffic jams on Friday. Key area, like Toli Chowki, Mehdipatnam, Madhapur, Begumpet and Secunderabad have witnessed severe traffic congestion most of this week. Hyderabad Police for their part maintained absolute silence on social media - no advisories, updates or instructions.

Mumbai, known also as the 'Maximum City', was maxed out with massive traffic snarls. Movement on key stretches like the Western Express in Andheri remained slow. The city had somehow escaped massive waterlogging over the past two weeks, but sizeable pools of water on roads on Friday ensured that the dream turned into an all-too-familiar nightmare.
Mumbai traffic
Movement on Western Express Highway remained slow through Friday. (PTI Photo)
While the usual echo from across urban India is of decrying authorities, horrendously low levels of traffic awareness amongst a significant proportion of commuters also play a major role in creating absolute chaos - one that reverberates across the length and breadth of an apparently modern India.
And when there is blame, can politics be far behind? The Gurgaon nightmare, for instance, saw Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar trade barbs with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy, Manish Sisodia. Khattar blamed Kejriwal for the mess in a tweet, evoking a sharp response from Sisodia.

The sorry tale of a submerged Indian city has pretty much become an annual feature. This makes headlines and fades back into the bylanes of memory - of civic authorities, politicians and people at large. 2016 has stayed to the trend so far with almost every major Indian metro reporting startling traffic snarls, courtesy potholed roads or clogged drains or both.
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