Delhi-Jaipur highway cave-in near Gurgaon triggers 10-km traffic jam, advisory issued

Road cave-ins and severe waterlogging affected key arterial roads across the city. Thousands of commuters were stranded as traffic jams stretched for kilometers.

GURGAON: The city was battered by its first spell of heavy monsoon rain on Tuesday afternoon, receiving around 82 mm of rainfall within two hours.The rain triggered road cave-ins, severe waterlogging and massive traffic jams across key arterial roads, news agency PTI reported.The downpour, which began around 2pm and continued till 4pm, exposed major infrastructure vulnerabilities, with a section of the Delhi–Jaipur highway (NH-48) caving in near Narsinghpur.

The collapse forced the closure of two lanes, leading to traffic snarls stretching 8–10 km from IFFCO Chowk to Kherki Daula toll plaza and leaving thousands of commuters stranded.

The cave-in reportedly occurred at a stretch where the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) was carrying out pipe culvert pushing work.

Heavy rainfall weakened the refilled section, causing the carriageway to collapse.Another cave-in was reported on Civil Lines Road, where the tyres of two parked vehicles got stuck after the road gave way.The stretch had been recently excavated for sewer pipeline work, and the rain further destabilised the surface.Notably, the residences of deputy commissioner Uttam Kumar, Municipal Corporation commissioner Pradeep Dahiya and Haryana minister Rao Narbir Singh are located on this VVIP road, prompting residents to question the state of infrastructure elsewhere in the city, PTI reported.

“If this is the condition of a VVIP road, one can only imagine the condition of other areas,” locals remarked.Waterlogging was reported from multiple parts of the city, including Narsinghpur, Basai, Hero Honda Chowk, Rajiv Chowk, Golf Course Extension Road, Sohna Road, Udyog Vihar, Vatika Chowk, Iffco Chowk, Old Delhi Road, Khandsa Road, Pataudi Road and areas near the old and new railway stations.Traffic movement slowed to a crawl, with school buses and office commuters among the worst affected.In one incident, a school bus slipped into an open drain on NH-48, though no students were on board at the time.

Residents took to social media to post videos of submerged roads, stranded vehicles and long queues of traffic, saying official claims of “no waterlogging” had been washed away by the first heavy rain itself.Following the disruption, Delhi traffic police and Gurgaon police issued a traffic advisory, warning commuters of congestion on NH-48 and advising them to use alternate routes.

“To ensure smooth traffic flow and prioritise the safety of motorists travelling from Delhi towards Jaipur, route diversions have been implemented,” the advisory said.

Vehicles have been advised to turn left at Rajiv Chowk or Hero Honda Chowk and use the Southern Peripheral Road (SPR).Motorists coming from Delhi have been asked to use the Dwarka Expressway.Commuters were also advised to allow extra travel time and follow speed limits near affected stretches.According to police, continuous rainfall led to waterlogging at several underpasses and low-lying areas, worsening traffic congestion.Additional traffic personnel were deployed across identified hotspots, while senior officers visited affected locations to monitor the situation.Authorities said coordination has been established with the municipal corporation and other departments to clear waterlogged stretches, repair damaged roads and restore normal traffic movement at the earliest.Tehsil-wise rainfall data showed Kadipur and Harsaru recording 82 mm, Gurgaon tehsil 76 mm, Manesar 50 mm, Wazirabad 49 mm, Farrukhnagar 27 mm, and Sohna and Pataudi 26 mm each.(With agency inputs)