Gurgaon: With the monsoon in full swing, NHAI has once again flagged persistent waterlogging at the Bajghera underpass on Dwarka Expressway. The highways authority has said a lack of action by civic authorities could lead to repeated flooding during heavy rainfall, which will cause "inconvenience to commuters. In a letter to GMDA, NHAI called for the immediate removal of encroachments along the roadside drain on Bajghera Road to ensure effective channelisation of stormwater. "There is no proper drainage network in that area, which leads to waterlogging on the crossroad and VUP (vehicle underpass)," a senior NHAI official said. "Despite repeated reminders, no concrete steps have been taken to resolve the issue," the official said.

The 700-metre-long Bajghera underpass is a part of Dwarka Expressway and runs underneath the expressway, facilitating traffic movement from Sector 110, 110A to 112 and 113, further to Delhi's Najafgarh and Haryana's Bahadurgarh.

NHAI said the drainage infrastructure along Bajghera Road, meant to collect and channel rainwater from surrounding areas, has been rendered largely ineffective due to several encroachments.

Many locals have built ramps and structures that block the inlets along the drain, making nearly 800 metres of the roadside drainage on either side defunct.Due to the natural gradient of the terrain, surface runoff from Bajghera Road naturally flows towards the Dwarka Expressway. In the absence of a functioning drain, this water collects at the low-lying Bajghera underpass, creating massive water pools that render the road temporarily impassable during heavy rain.The maintenance agency responsible for Dwarka Expressway has installed flood barriers at the entry points of the underpass. Officials now say the barriers are not a long-term solution and cannot withstand sustained heavy rainfall or backflow from clogged drains. A GMDA official said the master drain of Leg-1 — part of the city's main stormwater network — runs in close proximity to the underpass and remedial measures can be taken by NHAI itself.

"The drain is already functional in that zone. NHAI can lay adequate infrastructure to channelise the stormwater to the master drain to prevent waterlogging," the official said.However, an NHAI official said, "It is GMDA's responsibility to address water channelisation from the surface road into the drain. The Bajghera Road is not within our right of way (legal right to proceed). The underpass sumps are designed to handle a specific volume, but currently, water from nearly 1km of road and surrounding catchment area is flowing into the underpass due to lack of a functional drain inlet. We have already deployed adequate pumping machinery for the underpass, but the external drainage infrastructure is not within our scope.

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