Ahmedabad: A little more than one inch of precipitation on Monday morning brought the city down on its knees. Waterlogging and gridlocks were the thing to get done, from SG Highway to Ankur Crossroads and Chandlodia to Sarkhej. A man kicked the bucket by suffocating after water spouted into the Sarkhej Underpass where he was taking sanctuary from the deluge.
Same woes each monsoon
AMC fails to wake out of its slumber though each year it faces criticism for poor design of stormwater disposal system, improper planning and wastage of taxpayers’ money. It has spent about Rs 100 crore in the past 10 years to lay stormwater disposal lines. Out of a total 950-kilometre network, about 30% is in western parts, yet there are only two rainwater pumping stations here. AMC sources said this is the reason why western parts of the city get waterlogged every year during monsoon.
Certain areas like Sarkhej and Maktampura witness worst waterlogging as stormwater disposal lines are yet to be laid. These areas, along with Vejalpur, Bodakdev, Thaltej, Ghatlodia, Chandlodia, Kali Gam, Ranip, Gota and Chandkheda were included in the city limits in 2007, under New West Zone.
Certain areas like Sarkhej and Maktampura witness worst waterlogging as stormwater disposal lines are yet to be laid. These areas, along with Vejalpur, Bodakdev, Thaltej, Ghatlodia, Chandlodia, Kali Gam, Ranip, Gota and Chandkheda were included in the city limits in 2007, under New West Zone.
The last major stormwater line work in the city was executed in the Jodhpur ward in 2013-14. A 29-km RCC pipeline was laid to clear storm water at a cost of Rs 34 crore. After that, no such project has been taken up by the AMC. Of course, small projects worth Rs 3-4 crore are taken up but such an approach does not provide a permanent solution.
Only two water pumping stations in west zone
There are 32 pumping stations in the city for rainwater disposal. Of these only two are in the west zone. They include one near Jaydeep Tower in Satellite and another in Shrinandnagar, Vejalpur. This is the reason why one or two inch of rainfall causes waterlogging in western parts of the city. The eastern part has 30 pumping stations. Out of these, 27 are near Kharicut Canal.
Why west suffers
A senior AMC official said as TP schemes along SG highway and SP Ring Road are not being executed, roads and stormwater lines are not being laid. There are no stormwater lines parallel to the SG Highway and SP Ring Road and these areas witness waterlogging every year.
Chandkheda corporator Rajshri Kesari said, “Though TP schemes have been finalised in Chandkheda ward, the drainage lines for disposal of rain water have not been laid. There is a persistent problem of waterlogging here.”
Man taking shelter in underpass drowns
In a tragic accident, a commuter who had taken shelter from Monday morning downpour in the Sarkhej underpass, slipped and drowned in the water that gushed into the underpass from two sides. Kantibhai Parmar (40) and two others had taken refuge in the underpass as soon as the downpour started. However, water started accumulating in the underpass within minutes. As water level rose, the two others managed to swim to safety. Parmar, who could not swim, slipped and drowned. Later, fire brigade personnel retrieved Parmar’s body.
Two major projects in last 10 years
- RCC duct storm water line network from Maninagar Avkar Hall to Behrampura Cosy hotel at the cost of Rs 35 crore
- RCC duct storm water line network in Jodhpur ward from Jodhpur to Sabarmati River at the cost of Rs 34 crore.
Only 214 potholes left to be repaired
AMC Standing Committee Chairman Hitesh Barot called a meeting of officials of engineering department following widespread incidents of water-logging in the city on Monday. The issue of potholes and damaged roads was also taken up in the meeting. Till now, 16,000 potholes have been reported across the city, of which a majority of them have been repaired. Only 214 are left, the committee was told.
Morning downpour brings western parts to standstill
The western part of the city on Monday morning received heavy rainfall over a couple of hours which led to water logging and traffic jams on key roads.
On SG Highway and areas like Chanakyapuri, Valinath Chowk, Ankur Crossroads, AEC Circle, Vejalpur, Juhapura, Jodhpur and Vastrapur, two-wheelers drivers had to push their vehicles to cross water logged stretches.
Most of these areas received 1-inch to 2-inch rainfall in two hours. Maximum 1.98-inch rainfall was recorded in Chandlodia by 1pm. Bopal recorded 1.61-inch rainfall while Ranip saw 1.04-inch rainfall by 1 pm.
State rainfall
Rajula in Anand received maximum 4.56-inch rainfall in Gujarat on Monday. Mehsana received 3.34-inch and Gir-Gadhada in Gir-Somnath recorded 2.99-inch rainfall.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall in the next 48 hours in Rajkot, Amreli, Patan and Mehsana. Heavy rainfall is expected at
isolated places in Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Anand, Dahod and Sabarkantha.
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