Haryana CM Khattar blames unplanned construction for Gurgaon's traffic havoc, removes city police chief

Pic courtsey: ANI

Gurgaon: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar broke his silence on the traffic situation that has been ailing Gurgaon for the past few days and said that he will personally visit the affected areas to take stock of the situation.

Discussing the cause of severe water-logging over the past two days, Khattar said, "Traffic congestion in Gurugram happened mostly because Badshahpur drain has overflown and also because of the construction taking place near Huda Chowk."

Will personally visit affected areas day after to take stock of situation-Haryana CM ML Khattar on Gurugram traffic pic.twitter.com/g7IHUjRHRn

— ANI (@ANI_news) July 30, 2016

Traffic congestion in Gurugram mostly because Badshahpur drain has overflown&construction near Huda Chowk-Haryana CM pic.twitter.com/VpzmW6XcrG

— ANI (@ANI_news) July 30, 2016

CM Khattar had on Friday held an emergency meeting in Chandigarh to review the situation in Gurgaon.

The Haryana chief minister and his government have received severe criticism since thousands of commuters were stranded and authorities were forced to clamp prohibitory orders in Gurgaon to manage traffic.

Haryana's main opposition party INLD has blamed the Manohar Lal Khattar government for chock-a-block situation witnessed in the city after heavy rains, saying BJP only believes in 'hollow slogans' without taking any concrete steps to tackle basic things.

"They change Gurgaon's name to Gurugram. The tall claims about the development undertaken in the millennium city get exposed in just one hour of heavy rains. Vehicles got stuck in massive traffic jams trapping young, old, women, children, sick and ailing for up to 16 hours.

"The government is to be blamed for the mess witnessed in Gurgaon and not anyone else...it has little concern about people's problems," INLD senior leader Abhay Singh Chautala told reporters here.

The prohibitory orders were lifted on Friday night after the situation on the roads normalised but overnight rains contributed to slow traffic movement causing trouble to commuters.

While the NCR city is now limping back to normalcy fast, the price for the chaos has been paid by city Police Commissioner Navdeep Singh Virk. Orders were issued by the state government of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar to transfer Virk to Rohtak, reports claimed on Saturday.

Virk was among the officers who were seen on the ground to manage the situation in Gurgaon during flooding of the National Highway 8 and other areas. The Police Commissioner was seen riding on a bicycle to areas that were affected by water-logging.

As per the orders, Sandeep Khirawar will be the new Gurgaon (of Gurugram) police chief.

Traffic policemen were also on the ground standing in knee-deep water trying to bring some relief to commuters stranded for hours on the flooded roads.

The problem had started on Thursday evening following hours of persistent rain in Gurgaon.

Long tailbacks were witnessed in gridlocked roads in Gurgaon last two days due to severe waterlogging on National Highway-8 after heavy rains lashed Delhi's satellite city, leaving thousands of commuters stranded and forcing authorities to clamp prohibitory orders near Hero Honda chowk.