Morning traffic crawls as fog reduces visibility in Gurgaon

Low visibility due to thick fog delayed commuters, especially office goers, as traffic movement was affected on Friday morning. The situation worsened as rush hour began and traffic on Delhi-Gurgaon expressway, Mehrauli-Gurgaon road and Gurgaon-Faridabad road slowed down. Commuters reported an average delay of 15-20 minutes.

To make mattes worse, two cars had collided on Delhi-Gurgaon expressway around 7.30am due to low visibility. No casualties have been reported so far in any incident, Gurgaon police officials said.

The Delhi traffic police too issued an advisory through social media to help commuters avoid mishaps during foggy conditions. Many vehicles were also seen driving on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway with hazard warning lights on.

Meanwhile, officials at the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the minimum temperature around 8am was around 10.5 degrees Celsius and the maximum temperature was expected to be around 21 degree Celsius.

Ongoing repairs and construction at Dundahera intersection on Old Delhi-Gurgaon road and Golf Course road further worsened traffic conditions with potholes and construction material strewn on the road.

At the Dundahera intersection, police could allow vehicular movement only through one lane and traffic was delayed by 15 to 25 minutes on the stretch.

“I left home at 7 (am) and usually it takes around 10-15 minutes to reach my office at Cyberhub. Today (Friday), there was barely 50-metre visibility and hence vehicles were not going over 40 km per hour or overtaking each other. The journey took me 40 minutes,” said Vivek Kunwar of Sector 54.

The Gurgaon-Faridabad road was affected too and commuters drove slowly to avoid accidents.

“Usually, I reach my office in Sector 17, Gurgaon, in less than an hour. It took me nearly 90 minutes to do the same today (Friday). At certain stretches, vehicles were moving at 30-40 km per hour,” said Jyotsna Singh of Indraprastha colony, Faridabad.