Nitin Gadkari asks NHAI to rush officers to flooded Gurgaon

New Delhi, July 29 Following heavy rain that led to a flood-like situation in Gurgaon, Union Road Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday asked the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to rush a team of officers to the area.

"Gadkari has asked the NHAI Chairman Raghav Chandra to immediately rush a team of senior officers to Gurgaon and personally monitor the situation. He has been asked to take all necessary steps in cooperation with the state authorities to ensure smooth flow of vehicles on NH (National Highway) eight," an official of the Road Transport Ministry said in a statement.

Gadkari's action came in the wake of long traffic jams reported from Gurgaon on National Highway 8. The traffic snarls started when various roads in the city, which is part of the National Capital Region, were flooded after heavy rainfall on Thursday.

The traffic nightmare in the Millennium City was so bad that some commuters were stuck since Thursday evening.

"I left my office at 7 p.m. 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," said an accounting professional Ajay Pratap who slept in his office on Thursday.

The police has said the traffic situation would not improve before noon.

The Haryana government on Friday declared a two-day school holiday on account of the road flooding, while the Gurgaon police has issued an advisory asking people to avoid travelling.

IANS