Rains Of Gurugram: How Aravalli Runoff, Rampant Urbanisation Turned The City Into A Waterlogged Jungle

Rains Of Gurugram:  Every year during the monsoon season, Gurugram faces the same problem of roads turning into rivers, underpasses getting flooded, and traffic movement coming to a standstill. Even after a short spell of rain, large parts of the city get submerged in water. One of the main reasons for this is the rainwater that flows down the slope from the Aravalli Hills. These hills, located in the southern and southeastern part of Gurugram, are higher than the city. Heavy rains in the monsoon season cause rainwater to flow down into the city, leading to waterlogging and flooding in larger parts of Gurugram. In July 2021, a rainfall of 200 mm in the Aravalli region resulted in about 1,146 million litres per day (MLD) of water being retained in Gurugram, according to a Hindustan Times report.

Not long ago, Gurugram, previously called Gurgaon, used to be an actual 'gaon' (village) covered with forests, ponds and small dams. These natural ecosystems were capable of holding rainwater from the Aravalli Hills. However, the rapid urbanisation of the city and its transformation into the ‘cyber city’ changed it all.

In 1997, Gurugram took a major leap when DLF collaborated with GE to create India’s largest IT outsourcing hub, laying down the foundation for DLF Cyber City. Before this, during the 1990s, Gurugram was largely covered with green carpet with 600 natural water bodies and traditional drainage systems, like ponds that managed rainwater effectively, preventing it from flowing into the city.

While Gurugram has been hailed for its meteoric growth, many of the natural systems were destroyed and were turned into concrete urban structures, causing rainwater to run directly into the city. Gurugram now gets flooded not just due to heavy rainfall, but also because the concrete jungle leaves no outlet for the water flowing downhill from the Aravalli Hills.

Speaking to The Daily Jagran about the flooding in Gurugram, Snehal, a resident of Sector-56, said, “Even half an hour of rain floods our street. Cars stall, and ground floors get swamped.”

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Rainfall And Its Impact On Gurugram Over The Years

(Sources: Times of India, Hindustan Times, India Meteorological Department, India Today)

Percolation Rate Of Gurugram

Gurugram's soil is considered to have a percolation rate of 50 to 60 per cent, indicating a high capacity of the ground to absorb water. However, the extensive concretisation has reportedly reduced the percolation rate to 20 per cent. A majority of rainwater flows into the drains, worsening the waterlogging situation.

"We’ve lived here for over a decade, and it’s only getting worse. Even 20 minutes of rain is enough to block traffic and flood basements. Nothing seems to change," Shivam Jyoti, a resident of Sector-26, said.

What Experts Say?

Speaking to The Daily Jagran, interior designer Akanksha Priya said, “More than 80 per cent of Gurugram’s surface is covered with structures, leaving very little room for water to seep in. Only about 20 per cent of rainwater gets absorbed, while the rest becomes surface runoff. With narrow or choked drains, that water ends up flooding roads like Golf Course Road, Sohna Road, and NH-8 almost every monsoon.”

Deforestation and the unregulated construction of structures have damaged the water-holding capacity of the Aravallis, with the rainwater flowing into the city. “If we continue damaging the Aravallis, we’re just inviting more urban flooding in Gurugram,” Priya said.

“We’re seeing extreme rainfall in shorter bursts. Even well-designed infrastructure would struggle under these new patterns,” Times of India quoted Mukta Naik, a fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, as saying.

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Conclusion

Rainwater flowing down into the city from the Aravallis isn’t the problem; unplanned urbanisation is. Stakeholders should strengthen the city’s drainage system, protect green buffers and restore natural ecosystems. Without urgent action, even a short spell of showers would continue to paralyse the ‘Millennium City’.

(This article is part of the series 'Rains Of Gurugram'. To read more articles in the series, click here)