Why Gurugram crawls? Voters ask political parties as campaigning for Assembly polls intensifies

PTI, Sep 29, 2024, 10:35 AM IST

Credit: PTI

Gurugram: The campaign for upcoming Assembly polls in Haryana has seen parties making varied promises but voters in Gurugram have a common grievance — why does the traffic in the millennium city crawl? Pitched as the “Singapore of India”, the most elite region of NCR, Gurugram is one of Asia’s largest IT and corporate hubs.

The city might be offering employment to people from across the country who now call it home, but when it comes to civic amenities, life is getting increasingly difficult, voters say.

Intense waterlogging, damaged roads and serpentine traffic jams are the everyday woes faced by the people and they are now demanding assurance from candidates that their grievances will finally be addressed.

Posters of “No road, no vote”, “Abki bar, no guddha sarkar”, “Stuck in traffic, can’t vote”, and “Why Gurgaon crawls” are flashed by voters when the candidates go out in the city to seek votes.

“The city is in a mess but the traffic situation is worse. The only solution left is to never step out of the house. Even a few kilometres of distance takes over an hour and travelling to Delhi is like taking a flight to Dubai or Singapore,” Sumegh Jaiswal, a resident of a multi-storey complex in Sector 82, told PTI.

Jaiswal’s fellow residents protested with posters when candidates of both the BJP and the Congress visited the area this week.

“We are asking all candidates what is their plan to address the traffic issue. We don’t need promises, we need a plan and then only we will vote,” he said.

The city which is in proximity to Delhi airport also has residences of several VIPs. Swanky apartments, the cost of which runs into several crores of rupees, mark the entry of the cyber city from Delhi.

“Sometimes it takes less time in flight than it takes to reach the airport from Gurugram. There is no metro connectivity to the airport and going by road is a nightmare.

“And if it rains, God save us because it is like literally rowing a boat. Why should we vote for any party if nobody is bothered about these basics,” said Trikha, an architect.

The traffic situation has also become a subject of blame game among political parties.

Ruling BJP’s Rao Narbir Singh, a three-time Haryana minister who is contesting from Bashahdpur constituency which constitutes 70 per cent of Gurguram’s electorate, admitted that the city is a “civic mess”.

“I agree Gurgaon (old name of Gurugram) is a civic mess currently. We have the worst waterlogging, the worst roads and a traffic crisis. The city has turned into a garbage dump. The last five years not just brought the city to a standstill but reversed the pace of development,” he told PTI in an interview.

The BJP and Dushyant Chautala-led Jannayak Janata Party formed an alliance in October 2019 which broke up in March 2024.

“I blame the coalition for it (the Gurugram’s civic problems). We had a majority government from 2014 to 2019 and anybody can question the pace of development but things have gone downhill since 2019. It was our coalition with the JJP which is to be blamed.

“The civic infrastructure department was with the JJP and they didn’t do anything. The people are disappointed that despite the BJP being at the helm of affairs, no work has been done,” Singh said.

Congress’ Vardhan Yadav who is contesting his debut election from the constituency accused the BJP of neglecting Gurugram.

“There are two national highways passing through the city and still the traffic on main roads as well as interior roads is unbelievable.

“Despite contributing a hefty sum to Haryana’s coffers, Gurgaon has been given a short shrift and that is what needs to change. The situation wasn’t like this till Congress was at the helm in the state,” he said.

Traffic authorities blame the increasing number of vehicles in the city.

“Every month at least 5000 new private cars get registered in Gurugram, besides this there are two-wheelers and commercial vehicles.

“We deploy teams at all major intersections and even during waterlogging teams are at the spot navigating the traffic, but there is a larger problem,” a top traffic police official said, requesting anonymity.

Gurugram district has four assembly constituencies — Gurgaon, Pataudi, Badhshahpur and Sohna — with a total electorate of over 15 lakh. Badhshapur is the largest constituency in the state in terms of electorate.

The Haryana assembly polls are slated to be held on October 5 and the votes will be counted on October 8.