On Friday, the city of Gurugram woke up to water-logged streets and roads. Clearly, the change in name from Gurgaon hasn't changed the woeful lack of unpreparedness in the city and its surroundings. The hub of multinational companies came to a standstill with traffic choking the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway for several kilometres following heavy rain on Thursday evening. Traffic in areas including Sohna Road, Golf Course Road and around Huda City Centre was reduced to a crawl.
The ongoing rain that continued to lash even on Friday morning threw life out of gear in the Millennium City, a fair overview of which was possible because of with people posting updates on social media.
The situation was so bad that in a late-morning announcement, the Haryana government has declared a two-day holiday on July 29 and 30 for schools in Gurugram. Gurgaon Police have been tweeting and advising people to avoid coming out on the roads.
The heavy rain, during rush hour on Thursday, resulted in water-logged roads and traffic jams that everyone was quick to label as unprecedented. That this happens to be the Kanwariyas season didn't help either, as all the major roads and intersections were choked throughout the day.
The situation was aggravated in the evening because of a breach in the Badshahpur drain near Sector 34 which led to flooding in nearby sectors.
Here are some of the images floating around on social media from the great 'Gurujam of 2016'.
The millennium city of india #Gurgaon #gurugram pic.twitter.com/KdEGU1k1m7
— Anil Kath (@_Sea_Hawk) July 29, 2016
Commuters who were stuck in the traffic are warning others by sharing videos of their ordeal online.
Reportedly trucks are parked since last night. Avoid #Delhi - #Gurgaon #Gurugram at all costs. Pls RT pic.twitter.com/SRlqjaaCOU
— Bunny Punia (@BunnyPunia) July 29, 2016
So called #MellenniumCity #Gurugram pic.twitter.com/A846aQbtXa
— Bhupesh Yadav (@BYADAV17) July 29, 2016
Stuck between Rajiv Chawk and Subhash Chawk since 4 hours . #Gurugram #Gurgaon #gurgaonrains #gurgaontraffic pic.twitter.com/MxyLoGDm1a
— Abhishek Mishra (@abhishektw) July 28, 2016
It takes a natural, or in this case largely manmade, crisis to bring out social media's sassy brand of humour.
The traffic jam at Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway has been declared the best traffic jam by UNESCO.#Gurgaon #Gurugram #Gurughantal 😜
— Amrik Singh Hanjra (@amriksh) July 29, 2016
Shri Manohar Lal Khattar Ji trying to save the people of #Gurugram 😂 . pic.twitter.com/M1WEhXYUSf
— Divyanshu (@jetsroy) July 29, 2016
#Gurugram to #Venice in one day! Development I must say#Gurgaon #gurgaontraffic #gurgaonrains pic.twitter.com/VqM3wvTnYz
— Shantonil Nag (@ShantonilNag) July 29, 2016
#Gurgaon #Gurugram Truly fit to be a village at best. Village of lakes. Had SC justice been stuck, action was follow pic.twitter.com/TyWC245iWe
— Snehil Gambhir (@AVN_SGambhir) July 29, 2016
Govt officials are planning to watch Mohenjo daro to learn better drain mgmt #Gurugram pic.twitter.com/zGG8qsmAKw
— ABHISHEK KUMAR (@abhinitrpr) July 29, 2016
Gurgaon's chowks should be renamed and called chokes now. Examples: Signature Tower Choke, Hero Honda Choke, IFFCO Choke...
— Nardeep S Dahiya (@NSDahiya) July 28, 2016
@jguptallb #GuruGram has helped people stuck inside their Cars 2 do Yogic acrobats inside d car 2 attain Peace of Mind n Good health! #Yoga
— Joiel Akilan (@JoielAkilan) July 29, 2016
Cars dips in the #Gurugram pools pic.twitter.com/f3V3NewECW
— Sayyar Mir (@SayyarMir) July 29, 2016
One is Amsterdam other is #Gurgaon . We are so cool and better , free of cost adventure. pic.twitter.com/e4RT0uNOcd
— Nikhil Kaul (@iNiks) July 29, 2016