Cops post pics of waterlogged roads, MCG of cleared ones

Gurgaon: It took a day for the tall claims of the newly appointed Chief Governance Coordinator of Gurgaon (CGCG) S N Vashisth — that quick remedial action taken in the face of Wednesday’s water-logging was proof of improved coordination between various government departments — to unravel. And with it, returned the all-too-familiar mud-slinging between departments, that has often been the bane of the city’s civic infrastructure.This, after the ‘Gurujam’ of July 28, which was acknowledged by all and sundry as resulting from lack of coordination between district administration and police.
On Thursday, while the district administration was busy posting pictures, on a cross-platform mobile messaging app, of various arterial roads to show there was no water-logging in Gurgaon on Thursday, the police department were busy uploading pictures of waterlogged roads from across the city on an another messaging app. The district administration also claimed a MCG team was mobilising traffic at Subhash Chowk in front of Rail Vihar in the absence of cops.
However, when contacted both deputy commissioner T L Satyaprakash, who has additional charge of MCG commissioner, and police commissioner Sandeep Khirwar, strongly denied any attempt by either department to outwit the other.
“It’s possible the pictures were taken at different times. Since the capacity of Badshapur drain is very little, we have to stop regularly while pumping out water from the roads into it. Otherwise, there will be a breach and Hero Honda Chowk will be inundated. It’s possible the same road was flooded again, once the pumps stopped working,” said Satyaprakash.
Khirwar echoed his views. “Fifteen minutes can make a lot of difference. It’s possible the same area got flooded twice,” said the police commissioner. Chief coordinator S N Vashisht, too, reiterated, “It could be that photographs uploaded by different departments were clicked at different times. The entire district administration is working as one.”
Meanwhile, commuters complained there were few cops visible during peak hours on Thursday. “Even though it did not rain as much as Wednesday, traffic moved slowly, mainly because in the absence of traffic cops, people did not bother to follow traffic rules. When motorists started driving in the wrong direction, the entire stretch between the Maruti plant and Atul Kataria Chowk choked,” said Pritam Singh, a Sector 22 resident.
With no threat of punitive action, commuters merrily ignored private security guards, posted to man traffic by corporates near their offices and plants. “Due to the ongoing repair work on old Delhi-Gurgaon road, one carriageway is blocked to traffic. Instead, traffic is plying in both directions on the other carriageway. But with no cops around, some motorists soon crossed the temporary road divider to the opposite lane, which led to a snarl in the afternoon. Also, the traffic signal nearby was not working, which made things worse,” said Ankita Garg, an officegoer.
Khirwar said Gurgaon police had deployed fewer traffic cops on Thursday as the situation was not as grave as Wednesday’s. “We need to use the force judiciously. Since the situation was not as acute, there were fewer cops on the road,” he said.