Rain damages underpass in Gurugram, traffic snarls follow

Gurugram, Aug 3 (IANS) Commuters on MG Road and Delhi-Gurugram Expressway faced traffic snarls on Saturday, a day after a section of newly built underpass at Iffco Chowk was damaged in the rain.The concrete slabs of the underpass, heading from Iffco Chowk metro station to MG Road, collapsed due to water logging on Friday morning. The 800-meter underpass, constructed at the cost of Rs 23 crore by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), was opened four months ago. Due to collapse of slabs, a car got trapped in the underpass. It was pulled out with the help of a crane. Traffic officials suspect that wall of the underepass may soon collapse due to sub-standard construction.The traffic to the underpass was stopped on Saturday to repair the damage. "We have used concrete and steel materials to fill the gap. It will soon be operational," said Ashok Sharma, senior NHAI official.He said evacuation points were choked causing water logging, which damaged the concrete materials.Meanwhile, a section of road connecting Dwarka Expressway towards Jhajjar and Sultanpur national park collapsed near Basai on Saturday afternoon when a brick-laden truck was passing through.According to a traffic official, rain had damaged the road. The rear wheels of the truck got trapped, leading to the collapse.
--IANS str/pcj