Gurgaon: GMDA’s plan to resolve the chronic monsoon waterlogging on Delhi-Jaipur Highway (NH8) has hit a major roadblock near Narsingpur village.The installation of a crucial underground pipeline beneath the highway has been abruptly halted after encountering two high-tension electricity cables and a gas pipeline in its path. Out of the proposed 55-metre drainage line near the Sunbeam company premises, 52 metres were already laid when the underground utilities blocked the final stretch.The project is intended to address a long-standing flooding problem at Narsingpur, where the service road has been inundated during every monsoon for nearly 15 years. Water levels often rise two-three feet, spilling onto the main carriageway of Delhi-Jaipur Highway and triggering traffic snarls that last for hours. With the monsoon deadlines looming, GMDA is now scrambling for a workaround to prevent the highway from turning into a virtual lake yet again this year.The crisis has exposed a lapse in project planning. According to officials familiar with the development, GMDA skipped a ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey before commencing the excavation work. “If this standard survey had been conducted, the presence of Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam’s (DHBVN) high-tension lines and the adjacent gas pipeline would have been detected early, allowing for a timely relocation strategy,” a GMDA official told TOI.The project was originally supposed to be executed by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). However, after NHAI expressed its inability to handle the project, GMDA took over the construction of the new stormwater drain stretching from Radha Krishna Garden to the Badshahpur drain to relieve the Narsingpur service road.To mitigate the deadlock, GMDA has formally requested DHBVN to urgently shift the high-tension cables. However, navigating the gas pipeline right behind the power cables remains a challenge, for which a blueprint is yet to be drafted.Despite the setback, the authority remains optimistic about meeting the monsoon challenge. “A high-tension cable and a gas pipeline have come in the way of the stormwater drain in Narsingpur village. Instructions have been issued to the executive engineer on how to remove these hurdles. The pipeline will be laid within two days. We will not allow waterlogging on the highway this time,” GMDA chief engineer Hemant Yadav said.As part of its temporary disaster management plan, GMDA has planned to install nine heavy-duty pumps along the stormwater drain to flush out excess rainwater. While eight pumps have already been set up, officials claim the ninth pump will be operational within the next 3-4 days.However, the ground reality presents a different picture. The existing stormwater drains running from Rajiv Chowk to Kherki Daula village are heavily choked with garbage and silt and are currently overflowing even before the arrival of heavy monsoon showers.
