Rains bring Gurgaon and Bengaluru – shining examples of India's rise – to a grinding halt

Gurgaon/Bengaluru: Unprepared for heavy Monsoon showers, India's two metropolitan cities of Gurgaon and Bengaluru were brought to a grinding halt on Thursday and Friday.

The situation was so bad in Gurgaon (now called Gurugram) that the police there had to, on Friday, ask people, coming from Delhi for work, to cancel their plans.

The problem started on Thursday evening after heavy showers lashed the Millennium City. Various roads in the city got flooded causing traffic snarls in most of the areas.

The problem was acute on National Highway 8, which connects Gurgaon with Delhi, where flooding at a major crossing, known as the Hero Honda Chowk, led to blocking of the road.

Massive traffic jams were reported from the NH8 and many commuters had to spend hours on the road before they managed to reach home. In fact, many were stuck on the road even after midnight.

"I left my office at 7 pm yesterday (Thursday). I could only move 500 metres in five hours. Later, I decided to park my car on the road and went back to office," IANS quoted an accounting professional Ajay Pratap as saying. Pratap spent the night in his office.

Gurgaon's Police Commissioner Navdeep Wirk had to ride a bicycle today to reach blocked areas.

The situation was so bad that Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari had to ask the National Highways Authority of India on Friday to rush officers to the flooded NH8 in Gurgaon.

As a precautionary measure, the Haryana government also declared a two-day school holiday. The situation started to limp back to normalcy only after Friday noon.

The situation was somewhat similar in Bengaluru, if not worse.

Incessant rains that started Thursday night showed their effect on Friday causing massive traffic jams in several areas across the city, including in areas surrounding the Electronics City.

Bengaluru fire department had to deploy boats to rescue people.

A report claimed people on the Ring Road were even seen fishing!