The gridlock on Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway on Thursday night.

GURGAON: Monster traffic jams returned to Gurgaon on Thursday evening as waterlogged streets brought the city to a standstill and people returning home from office remained stranded till well past midnight.

Moon Das, an MNC executive whose office is on Sohna Road, was still in Gurgaon at 12.30 pm, stuck for over six hours, but couldn't reach any of the highways that could take her to Vasant Kunj in Delhi, where she lives. "There was knee-deep water everywhere. Whichever road I tried to take was waterlogged. I have been moving in circles," Das told TOI over the phone from her car, which was still on Sohna Road.

It rained for over an hour and a half in the evening but fears of the city's main stormwater drain breaching its banks stopped pumping operations, leading to rainwater stagnating on roads for hours. Areas such as Golf Course Road, Nirvana Country, Hero Honda Chowk, Sector 34 Info City and parts of NH-8 and Old Gurgaon witnessed massive waterlogging, with many places recording even three-feet-deep water. The area around Huda City Centre Metro station was submerged as well.

The Met department, however, failed to measure the exact amount of rainfall in the city as its measuring instruments broke down. Twitterati posted photos of the monster jam on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway and Subhash Chowk, saying they had not moved for over four hours. One user, Priya Menon, said, "People are abandoning their cars and walking home after being stuck for more than 3-4 hours. Gurgaon is not moving."

Commuters said there were no policemen visible through the evening, leading to chaos on the roads as motorists switched lanes in an attempt to get home faster, worsening the gridlock.

"The situation got worse as people decided to leave behind their cars on roads. It was easier for them to walk home then to drive in three-feet-deep water. But this made things difficult for us as it is not possible to remove the cars from the road," said DCP (traffic) Balbir Singh.

Gurgaon police commissioner Navdeep Singh Virk said the entire police force had been deployed to aid commuters.

Notorious for snarls, the Haryana government was ripped apart on Twitter for Gurgaon's poor infrastructure. "Park your car in the middle of the road and swim home," tweeted Tapobrata, a commuter. "Today we know why govt changed name from #gurgaon to #gurugram. It wanted to tell us it's really an ancient village," tweeted Vikram Chaudhary.

Civic officials told TOI though additional pumps were installed, pumping of rainwater from the city's roads had to be stopped due to the steep rise in water levels in the Badshahpur drain in Sector 34.

According to officials, the Badshapur drain breached its levels and there is a danger of its banks collapsing in some parts. "Hence, we were forced to immediately stop pumping of rainwater. We allowed the water level recede according to its natural flow, which took two to three hours," said an official.

