How 22 inches of rain left Ahmedabad’s Bopal, Ghuma waterlogged for three days

Virender Kumar, the chairperson of its Resident Welfare Association (RWA), said, “The area around the [entry] gate now has a depression that is a result of the incessant rain. Due to the extreme rainfall, the entry and exit of the society were blocked. Although water did not enter houses, it had reached their entrance.”

As per Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) authorities, the rain and aftermath flood impacted nearly 30,000 people from over 30 residential societies in Bopal-Ghuma, where residential structures for low-income groups to premium residential societies exist. Most of them, including a community health centre, were inundated.

Army rescue after waterlogging at Ambli Bopal road Sentossa Park in Ahmedabad on Friday. (Express Photo by Bhupendra Rana)

A municipality till five years ago, the area, which lies beyond the Sardar Patel Ring Road (SPRR) part of which runs parallel to the Sarkhej-Gandhinagar highway, was merged into the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation in 2021.

In these years, as the city grew further westward, areas around the Ambli-Bopal Road and Ghuma grew into tiny neighbourhoods, extending beyond the Sindhu Bhavan Road (SBR) — the glitzy road with its boutiques, branded stores and restaurants, many of which were affected by the waterlogging.

The drainage system, created 45 years ago when the area was under a gram panchayat and expanded in 2008-09 by the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA), was not prepared to handle a 22-inch rainfall, the highest the city has experienced in two days.

The rain also exposed huge infrastructural gaps and unplanned development, coupled with unregulated usage of the Transfer of Development Rights, forcing authorities to adopt knee-jerk solutions to resolve issues that have been aggravating every year.

“Though the situation was much worse last monsoon, it came into the limelight this time because of the VIP visits to the area. Chief Minister (Bhupendra Patel) could not reach our society, but he reviewed the situation around. Last year, water did not recede for weeks, and the same was even brought to the notice of government authorities,” the RWA head said.

On July 24, the CM, accompanied by a team of ministers and senior officials, waded through the worst flood-hit areas in Bopal-Ghuma including Sentossa Park, Hariom Villas and Iscon Greens. Parts of Bopal and Ghuma make up the Ghatlodiya Assembly constituency, which is represented by the CM. They also form a segment of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat.

Entrance of Iscon Greens still flooded on Saturday. (Express Photo by Bhupendra Rana)

Ahmedabad Municipal Commissioner Banchhanidhi Pani told The Indian Express: “The city’s rainfall holding capacity is one inch per hour. One can then imagine the impact 22-inch rainfall in Bopal-Ghuma would have. Water was diverted to lakes overnight through two temporary pipelines laid to connect to the drainage system, which was otherwise blocked by two new roads. Similar measures were taken in Thaltej near Shilaj Circle, where an open trench of 80 metres was dug to connect Thaltej and Western Trunk line along Sardar Patel Ring Road.”

The floodwater was discharged into multiple lakes. Since the main water body, which is of 90 million litre capacity and has a radius of 44,432 square metres, in Bopal was surcharged, water was diverted to a smaller lake behind Iscon Greens. The Ghuma lake, comparatively bigger with a radius of 72,704 sq mt, was also filled to the brim after the rain.

AMC officials at the AMC say the “saucer-like” depression in several areas of the city added to the woes. “There are more than 100 such saucer-like areas in the Northwest, Southwest and West zones, where the rainfall was the highest,” one of them stated.

The officials also confirmed that three vehicles mounted with heavy dewatering pumps were borrowed from Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) and used at Iscon Greens.

Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel meeting residents in Bopal-Ghuma area. (Source: Gujarat government)

When a wall became a bund

According to the RWA chief, the road that was blocked by the boundary wall had been in use for decades until two years ago. “Due to poor town planning, the area was earmarked for private development, which blocked the society’s entry and exit. So, a new motorable road was created by AMC by shifting the boundary wall. We are ready to sacrifice more of our area, but there should be a permanent solution to this problem”.

The Greens, like many residential colonies, came up on land previously used for agriculture.

“When we shifted here 15 years ago, there was nothing else but this colony. No infrastructure was developed to match the pace of development. Lakes and the catchment areas have been encroached, and roads are blocked by haphazard constructions,” a resident added.

Iscon Greens has its own sewage treatment plant and borewells for water supply.

Virender Kumar, the RWA chief, retired as the director of ISRO’s Development and Educational Communication Unit (DECU). “We have no grievances against AMC that put all its strength to clear the water. But we are planning to submit a representation to AMC and CM against the road that blocks our society. We expect help and are hopeful that we will be heard and our issues addressed,” he remarked.

Rajkot municipal corporation truck pumping out floodwaters on Saturday. (Express Photo by Bhupendra Rana)

Cities must plan for high density: Expert

Urban planning expert Saswat Bandopadhyay blamed the “build-first, plan infrastructure later” approach of development for the chaos in Bopal and Ghuma. “Why do new neighbourhoods get flooded so easily? It is not just because rainfall has become more intense, but also because Ahmedabad has allowed urban density to grow much faster than the infrastructure needed to support it.”

About the Shela-Bopal-Ghuma corridor, he said, “The area has witnessed explosive real estate growth over the past decade. Much of the TDR (Transferable Development Rights) generated from the city’s core areas gets absorbed in the peripheral areas such as Shela, Bopal and Ghuma. As a result, these areas have been witnessing substantial increases in built-up areas and a reduction in permeable open land.”

“Yet, stormwater infrastructure has lagged far behind. The evidence is now impossible to ignore. During the July rains, nearly 22 inches of rainfall in three days left dozens of societies inundated for days. Officials acknowledged that drainage networks designed for much smaller settlements are now serving nearly 1.5 lakh residents, while large parts of the area still lack adequate stormwater systems. The problem is where and how much development rights have been concentrated.”