News: Narsinghpur NH-48 Cave-In Reopened on Trial; Jams Persist-09-07-2026
The damaged portion of the Delhi-Gurugram-Jaipur (NH-48) expressway at Narsinghpur was opened to traffic on a trial basis around 8pm on Wednesday, after a day in which lane closures, repair work and another spell of rain choked the highway and several arterial roads.
The cave-in was reported around 4.30pm on Tuesday following heavy rain and shut two lanes of the Delhi-to-Jaipur carriageway. With only two lanes available for most of Wednesday, queues stretched between Narsinghpur and Hero Honda Chowk, and congestion spread to Rajiv Chowk, Southern Peripheral Road (SPR), Dwarka Expressway and connecting roads, officials and commuters said.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said the section was repaired with concrete and reinforced with 8 mm-thick metal sheets, in coordination with the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA). Project director Yogesh Tilak said teams are watching the stretch closely and the road will be closed again if any problem arises. The sheets are meant to spread vehicle load evenly and protect the carriageway, he said. A senior GMDA official said the concrete was allowed to set fully.
Officials said the collapse followed the insertion of drainage pipes under the highway by a trenchless method. Earlier this year, NHAI had refused GMDA permission for a culvert at Narsinghpur, fearing a cave-in, and later allowed trenchless pipes at GMDA’s insistence.
A spot check on Wednesday found surface traffic from Hero Honda Chowk and Rajiv Chowk towards Narsinghpur closed, with only heavy and large commercial goods vehicles permitted on the elevated carriageway. At Khandsa in Sector 33, the elevated corridor was cut to two lanes, and service lanes were kept for two-wheelers and private vehicles going towards Subhash Chowk via Vatika Chowk. Even so, commercial vehicles were stuck on a nearly two-kilometre stretch leading to Narsinghpur.
Prem Prajapati, a resident of Kasan, said the Khandsa-Manesar trip took nearly thirty minutes longer because of diversions. Jeewa Deepa of Sector 66 said the narrower carriageway caused peak-hour congestion at Narsinghpur, Hero Honda Chowk and other intersections.
Prateek Gehlot, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic), said checkposts were set up at Hero Honda Chowk and Rajiv Chowk, and three police parties will stay deployed round the clock at merging, entry and exit points until the corridor is fully repaired. He said the situation was largely under control on Wednesday. At the Delhi-Gurugram border, Delhi traffic police advised Gurugram-bound motorists to take the Dwarka Expressway. Crash barriers were also installed on service lanes from Khandsa to Clover Leaf, where railings along the drain were missing.
Police said 260 additional personnel were posted along the corridor with five cranes, two Hydra pickup machines and six patrol vehicles. A senior traffic police official said seventeen mobile riders made lane discipline announcements over loudspeakers.
Roads linking Rajiv Colony and Hans Enclave to NH 48 stayed choked by knee-deep water. Congestion was also reported near Naharpur Rupa Colony, SPR, Old Railway Road and on Pataudi Road towards Khandsa.
Heavy rain returned for around 90 minutes from about 12.30pm on Wednesday, flooding Narsinghpur and the stretch between Hero Honda Chowk and Umang Bhardwaj Chowk. Police continued sending Manesar-bound vehicles through Subhash Chowk and SPR, and from Hero Honda Chowk to the Dwarka Expressway, as advised on Tuesday as well.
