Gurugram rain: Massive jam on Delhi-Jaipur Expressway leaves commuters stranded overnight

Gurugram rain

Gurugram’s infrastructure was pushed to the brink on Monday as heavy rainfall triggered severe waterlogging and massive traffic disruptions, leaving thousands of commuters stranded for hours across the city. The deluge, which submerged several key arteries under two to three feet of water, exposed the perennial monsoon preparedness failings that plague the financial hub.

According to a TOI report, the city’s traffic police helpline was inundated with approximately 200 distress calls by 7.30 pm, as residents pleaded for assistance with stalled vehicles, breakdowns and navigational help through the gridlocked streets.

Gurgaon Traffic After Rain! Full highway is choked. Took 3 hours to cover 10kms. #GurgaonRains#Gurgaon#Gurgaontrafficpic.twitter.com/GJDkigIX6h

— kashish vasishta (@kshshvasishta0) September 1, 2025

The chaos was particularly acute on the critical Delhi-Jaipur Expressway (NH-48), where a 4-kilometre-long traffic jam stretched from Hero Honda Chowk to Narsinghpur. A video that went viral on X captured the scale of the night-time gridlock, showing an unbroken line of vehicles with their red and white headlights stretching into the distance, immobile on the national highway. Authorities were forced to deploy a water pump near Rajiv Chowk in a bid to drain the flooded carriageway.

The TOI report detailed that the traffic snarls were not confined to the expressway. Major bottlenecks were reported across the city, including at IFFCO Chowk, Kherki Daula toll plaza and an inundated underpass at the Mahavir Chowk bus stand. Other affected areas included Gurugram Railway Station Road, Sheetla Mata Temple Road, Golf Course Road and the vicinity of Galleria Market in DLF Phase-4.

The breakdown of over 25 vehicles, including a bus near Jharsa on the expressway, compounded the crisis. Traffic police teams, employing cranes and manual labour, worked to clear these obstructions and move them to safer locations to ease the congestion.

Commuters voiced their profound frustration at the recurring ordeal. Sunidhi Sharma, stuck on NH-48, was cited by TOI, “Usually it takes me around 20 minutes to reach Shankar Chowk from Atlas Chowk, but today it took me around 90 minutes. The roads are broken, there are multiple bottlenecks and authorities work only on paper. Nothing changes.” This sentiment was echoed by IT professional Niharika Singh, who described a typically 20-minute journey from Cyber City to Sector 14 taking one-and-a-half hours, with the entire expressway packed and traffic crawling.

In response to the crisis, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Rajesh Mohan stated that personnel were deployed at over 100 waterlogging points, with 23 critical locations being managed closely. The DCP confirmed to TOI that coordination with relevant departments was ongoing to drain water from flooded areas and ensure smoother movement of vehicles.

The severe disruption underscores a persistent and critical vulnerability in Gurugram’s urban infrastructure, turning a brief spell of rain into a full-blown civic crisis that highlights a glaring gap between official assurances and on-ground reality.