The Gurugram administration issued an order on Tuesday forbidding school buses from operating on waterlogged routes.Children swim and play in a waterlogged area at Rajiv Chowk following continuous rainfall in Gurugram on Tuesday. (ANI Video Grab)The order comes amid heavy rain battering the millennium city, causing waterlogging on several roads and localities.According to the order issued by the Gurugram district disaster management authority, school buses have been banned on routes declared waterlogged. The order states that safe alternative routes must be used in such cases.If no safe alternative route is available, children will be kept safe within the school premises, and parents will be immediately informed, the order added.The Gurugram traffic police have been directed to provide real-time information on routes to the schools during the rain.The order will remain in effect immediately until September 30, or until further orders.What else does the GDDMA order stipulate?During heavy rain or IMD alerts, additional Haryana Roadways buses will remain on standby to safely evacuate children from school buses stuck in waterlogging.No child will be dropped off at waterlogged or deserted bus stops. Children will only be handed over to parents/authorised guardians.The appointment of a Transport In-charge/Route Safety Officer is mandatory in every school.Dewatering agencies will give top priority to removing waterlogging around school bus routes and school gates.Intense waterlogging in GurugramHeavy rain lashed several parts of Gurugram, once again triggering widespread waterlogging, inundating roads and exposing the city’s chronic drainage problems. The administration urged all corporate offices, private institutions, government offices, and schools to work from home on August 25 until further notice.According to the district administration, Gurugram tehsil recorded 75 mm of rainfall between 8am and 3pm, while the India Meteorological Department’s Gurugram North Cap University station logged 38 mm of rain from 8.30am to 5.30pm on Monday. Waterlogging was reported at several key junctions and on arterial roads with traffic, particularly around Rajiv Chowk, Narsinghpur, IFFCO Chowk, Sirhaul border, NH-48, Sohna Road, Sheetla Mata Road, and parts of Old Gurugram.Waterlogging around Rajiv Chowk and on the Delhi-Gurugram Expressway disrupted movement on one of the city’s busiest corridors, while stretches of Old Delhi Road, Railway Road, Basai Road and Mehrauli Road also witnessed prolonged congestion.The situation was compounded by stranded vehicles, school buses, and ambulances on waterlogged stretches. Golf Course Road, including stretches outside The Magnolias and The Camellias, Sohna Road and other major corridors, were also inundated, forcing commuters to drive slowly through deep water and backing up traffic considerably. Malibu Town, Sector 49, MG Road and the Gurugram bus depot were severely waterlogged, bringing traffic to a standstill. Dhankot Village road was barricaded due to heavy waterlogging. Several school vans broke down on Sheetla Mata Road, leaving children stranded for hours until their parents arrived to pick them up.In the evening, there was a 4 km-long traffic jam on Sohna Road near Islampur Village. Traffic police said teams were deployed on the ground and route diversions would be considered wherever necessary.“Our teams are working to manage traffic effectively. The required deployment has been completed on the ground. During the continuous heavy rainfall in Gurugram, Gurugram Traffic Police monitored waterlogged areas and major roads with the help of drones,” said Gurugram Traffic Police spokesperson Vikas Verma.At least 14 buses were stuck at Subash Chowk for over four hours on Monday, forcing drivers and staff to carry children to the roadside. As a result, residents said their children reached home hours later than usual. At Subhash Chowk near Rail Vihar, school buses were stranded. Taruna Bhatia, a Sector 70 resident, said her child had been stuck since 1pm. “Our children have been stranded on waterlogged roads, and it is very worrying,” she said.Reema Srivastava said her child, a class 4 student, and her classmates were stuck at Subash Chowk for over three hours. “Gurugram is not capable of surviving even three hours of downpour. It is a matter of our children’s safety,” she said.This, despite GMDA claiming it had strengthened drainage infrastructure and addressed waterlogging at vulnerable points.