Ahmedabad Rains: Schools, colleges shut as record rainfall brings city to a standstill

After receiving a call from Paldi Control, the team found that Sabarmati, Chharanagar, Rabarivas were flooded and people climbed onto the rooftops to save their lives. The fire team rescued them and sent them to the homes of locals and relatives,” AMC authorities said.

Waterlogging at Ambli Bopal road Sentosa Park in Ahmedabad on Friday. (Express Photo by Bhupendra Rana)

Those rescued include senior citizens aged over 70 years.

As the city roads were flooded, several cars and two wheelers that broke down were seen stranded in the middle of main roads like the 132-foot Ring Road AEC Bridge. Authorities said they would initiate the work of removing them to avoid traffic jams and accidents.

Six underpasses in the city – Makaraba, Parimal, Daxini, Kaligam, Chandlodiya -3 and Chandkheda-243 – remained closed till Friday morning due to flooding. Some of them were opened for traffic later in the day.

Waterlogging at Ambli Bopal road Sentosa Park in Ahmedabad on Friday. (Express Photo by Bhupendra Rana)

Areas flooded

Despite late night water pumping works, several parts of the city remained under water on Friday. The AMC staff were seen opening the manholes on the flooded roads.

Moti bakery area and Ektanagar in Danilimda, Punit nagar road and Atmaram Park in Jodhpur, Krushnabaug in Maninagar ward remain flooded in the city. Bhagwat bungalows in South Bopal and Valinath chowk Naranpura were under knee-deep water while Ambli BRTS bus stand, K K Nagar road and Patidar Chowk in Ghatlodiya were flooded. Bhairavnath in Maninagar was under knee-deep water on Friday morning.

Pumping machines were seen stationed outside various flooded residential societies such as Sabarmati toll naka, Shivranjani cross road, Paraskunj part 2 Jodhpur ward, D-mart Vejalpur, Utsav garden Sarkhej, Judges bungalow road, Bopal Ghuma road, Little Wings Abhishek Society in Bopal, Khodiyar Baug society, Amarnah park and Samarpan flats, Poonam flats Chandkheda.

A tree fell near HP petrol pump on the Judges Bungalow road, leading to a traffic chaos on Friday morning. The road towards Airport circle in Sardarnagar, Corporate road, was flooded. The roads along the posh areas on the Sarkhej-Gandhinagar highway near Palladium mall as well as near Shilaj overbridge were submerged.

Waterlogging near Bopal area in Ahmedabad on Friday. (Express Photo by Bhupendra Rana)

School holiday

With the IMD predicting heavy to very heavy rainfall in Ahmedabad city and the current flood situation, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has announced that all government, grant-in-aid and private schools and colleges in Ahmedabad city will remain closed on July 25 (Saturday). All AMC-run Anganwadis will remain closed till July 27.

AMC officials said food and snack packets were distributed to hundreds of affected people across the city.

The Garden Department of the AMC said 166 complaints of trees and branches falling were reported from various areas of the city on Thursday and Friday. Out of the complaints, 129 were related to tree falling and 52 of branches falling.

Shops flooded

Nearly 40 shops in the basement of a commercial complex in the city were flooded on Thursday.

Several shops of mobile phones and car accessories in the Indraprastha Complex remained submerged till Friday evening.

Shop owners complained that despite repeated calls made to the AMC and police, no help was extended to them.

“I am staring at a loss of nearly Rs 18-20 lakh as I could not retrieve the costly mobile phones and other electronic items,” Badal Patel, a shop owner, told The Indian Express.

The shopkeepers, who started pumping out water on their own since Friday morning, said that the area was severely flooded after the drainage line got choked.