Manohar Lal Khattar to visit Gurgaon on Monday to check traffic woes

Chandigarh, Jul 30: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today said he would visit Gurgaon on Monday to get a first hand information on the problem of waterlogging and traffic jams which he attributed to various factors including overflowing of Badshahpur drain.

He said there was complete coordination between the Police and Civil administration and the traffic snarls were created primarily because of two issues.

"The Badshahpur drain in Gurgaon was overflowing due to heavy rain and its water did not flow to drain No. 8 which was already full to the brim. Secondly, a bridge was under construction at Hero Honda Chowk on NH 8, he told reporters here this evening.

"Therefore, the passage was narrow and bottle neck was created which obstructed smooth flow of traffic," he said.

Another bridge is under construction at Subhash Chowk on Sohna road. There was also congestion of taxis as their strike was called off the same day. Also, a big group of 'Kanwariyas' passed that way, he said, adding all this led to massive traffic jam.

Khattar said a team of senior officers is already camping in Gurgaon to ensure that such a situation is not created in future.

When asked about the tweet where he allegedly blamed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for the traffic jams in Gurgaon, he denied the charge and clarified that the tweet was misquoted as he was replying to a question on construction of National Periphery Road to which Delhi was not cooperating for its portion.

Today Opposition parties including opposition INLD also blamed the Harayana government for the traffic jam in the Millennium City saying BJP only believes in "hollow slogans" without taking any concrete steps to tackle basic things.

Long tailbacks were witnessed in gridlocked roads in Gurgaon in last two days due to severe waterlogging on National Highway-8 after heavy rains lashed the city. Thousands of were commuters stranded and prohibitory orders were clamped near Hero Honda chowk. Schools were also ordered to be shut down for two days.

PTI