Border flooded, but not for rain: No drain at Kapashera, GMDA's plan still on paper

Time of India

08-07-2025

Gurgaon: Every monsoon, Gunja Devi braces herself for the daily challenge at the Delhi border. As she nears the submerged junction at Kapashera, she carefully hops from one broken pavement slab to another, trying to avoid stepping into the ankle-deep, murky water spread across the road.
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Sometimes, she makes it across. Sometimes, she slips.
"There's no way to tell how deep the water is. The water looks shallow, but you never know. Sometimes, it even smells of sewer. We also need to be mindful of electric cables. Who wants to walk through that? But we have a job to do," said Gunja, a domestic help, who lives in Delhi's Kapashera.
For thousands of commuters and office-goers in Udyog Vihar, be it pedestrians or motorists, who pass through this stretch daily, the story is the same.
Every year during this time, the stretch of the Delhi-Gurgaon border near Kapashera gets severe waterlogging, with no drainage solution in sight.
The area acts as a natural depression, collecting runoff from Kapashera in Delhi and Dundahera in Gurgaon, and becomes virtually impassable during heavy downpours. The Old Delhi-Gurgaon Road is key to getting to Udyog Vihar, where scores of businesses and companies employ thousands.
Many pedestrians are often seen hopping across broken pavements or risking a slippery walk along the edge of the submerged road.
"This happens every year during monsoon. It is impossible to judge the depth when the road is flooded and many motorists lose their balance here. The authorities should have fixed this years ago," said Prakash Yadav, a daily commuter who crosses the border every day on his two-wheeler.
The city buses also stop at the border and passengers are forced to walk through the waterlogged roads to board the public transport.
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In 2022, GMDA proposed a 1km drainage-cum-footpath along with a cycle track between Hanuman Chowk and the Delhi-Gurgaon border, aimed at addressing the recurring waterlogging in the area.
An estimate of Rs 4 crore was approved at the 50th GMDA core planning cell meeting. However, the project never took off. The officials have earlier cited the alignment of the proposed RRTS corridor along Old Delhi-Gurgaon Road as hindering the project.
Now, even though the RRTS route has been shifted to NH8, the drainage work is still nowhere in sight.
"We have been highlighting the issue multiple times, but it seems like authorities have turned a blind eye to the situation. Imagine if there is an electrocution during the monsoon. Who will be responsible?" RWA president of Surya Vihar Rajesh Gera said.
He further said, "It has been three years since GMDA planned to ensure proper drainage connectivity.
Yet, there is no clear timeline from authorities on drainage construction. We fear that the story will continue to repeat — unless the govt finally walks the talk on infrastructure upgrades in this perennially flooded zone."
Rainwater mixed with sewer was seen stagnating near the FOB at Dundahera, leaving half of the road blocked.
"There is no outlet for rainwater. Even the overflowing sewer stagnates. We have complained to civic authorities but to no avail," a resident said.
A senior GMDA official, when contacted, did not give a clear timeline to address the perennial issue. "The metropolitan authority is preparing an estimate of the missing drainage link from sector 1 to sector 23 to channelise rainwater into master stormwater drains," the official said.