Heavy rains bring life to a standstill

Heavy rains lashed most parts of Gujarat today, inundating low-lying areas and disrupting train and road traffic in various parts of the state.

On Sunday, Ahmedabad received 122.3 mm rain fall between 8 am and 5.30 pm. The Meteorological Centre recorded 52.1 mm and 58.6 mm rainfall in Rajkot and Vadodara, respectively.

Rain and thundershowers are expected across the state in the next 24 hours.

With showers for last four days, temperatures across the state have come down substantially. After hovering over 40 degree Celcius, the maximum temperature in Ahmedabad was recorded at 30.4 degree Celcius. Rajkot, Vadodara and Surat recorded maximum temperatures of 29.6, 29.0 and 30 degree Celcius, respectively.

According to the flood control department, Surat city has received close to nine inches of rainfall since Friday night. Heavy rains have also been reported at many places in Navasari, Valsad, Bharuch districts, as well as in the union territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman, in the last three days.

The local administration in Saurashtra has declared a red alert in coastal areas. Fishermen have been warned against venturing into the sea for the next 48 hours.

Several deaths have been reported in various parts of the state due to wall collapse, electric shock and drowning following heavy rains.

Meanwhile, with the entire state receiving the first round of rains, farmers have started sowing operations. According to a senior official in state agricultural department, all eight identified agriculture climatic zones have received enough rain to prepare farms for new crops.

"According to primary information, farmers have started sowing in the southern and northern region. We should start getting data from across the state shortly. It is a good beginning of monsoon for the state," said the official.

The agriculture climatic zones include Southern Hills, Southern Gujarat, Middle Gujarat, North Gujarat, North West Arid, North Saurashtra and South Saurashtra.

South Gujarat received its first shower early this week. The central region has been getting good rains since Thursday morning. Met department officials hope the delay in the monsoon will be made up by the rainfall in the last few days.

"Usually, rains start by June 15 in the state. However, we hope the deficiency due to the delay in the monsoon will be made good. The monsoon has advanced towards northern Gujarat, which is likely to bring showers to Saurashtra," R K Bakliwal, director, Meteorological Centre, Ahmedabad, said.

Junagadh received the highest rain fall in the first round, with 180 mm average in the district. Meanwhile, Kutch, which is a drought prone area, has received an average 9 mm rain.

Other districts which experienced good rainfall are Valsad (average 90 mm), Amreli (82 mm), Banaskantha (42 mm), Navsari (57 mm) and Dang (55 mm).

"According to our estimates, the state could receive 98 per cent rains this year. Though monsoons have hit a bit late, the beginning is satisfactory. We are hopeful of average or a little above average rain fall this year," Bakliwal said.

In the southern region, Surat and Bharuch received 26 mm rainfall, while Navasari experienced 57 mm and Valsad 90 mm.

More water-logging ahead

Residents of Ahmedabad can expect another monsoon with widespread water logging in low lying areas. Civic officials admitted that no long-term plans are in place for the efficient drainage of the city's storm water. The pre-monsoon action plan has also not been implemented fully.

"Proper planning to tackle such situations is lacking. We have asked all officers to speed up de-silting and clearance of storm water and drainage pipes.

This should be complete within a week," Anil Mukim, municipal commissioner, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), told Business Standard over phone from Hyderabad.

Jagdish Pandya, chief executive authority, Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (Auda), said areas under the authority would not see water logging.

"This year we have take necessary arrangements so that rain water does not flood the Auda areas, especially Vastrapur, Judges Bungalow, Thaltej and Gurukul."

If heavy rains occur this year, we have alternative plans to divert water to Vastrapur Lake, Memnagar Lake and Bodakdev Lake, Pandya added. There are about 25 areas in the city that get clogged, disrupting traffic. These are areas where disposal of water is not planned and an action plan has not been made by the AMC.

"We have asked the officers to look out for major problems such as piling of trash, and potholes on the roads. The pre-monsoon action plan this year is done with the special focus on minimising water logging in city," Mukim added.

An AMC official said a special map highlighting the areas that were flooded last year has been made, and special care is taken to see that water logging does not occur in these areas.

He added that a major exercise that was undertaken this year was to clear canals, which strengthened the natural storm-water drainage system. While this covers about 75 per cent of the city, about 25 per cent of the city need to be covered by alternative means to avoid flooding.

Moreover, new storm-water drains have been installed but the main problem is the topography of the city. There is no natural drainage and the water in certain areas like the northern part of the city has to travel about 20 kilometers before reaching the natural drainage.

Apart from all these, special arrangements have also been made to prevent the water gathering at the Akhbarnagar underpass and income-tax underpass which were flooded with rain water last year.

According to an estimate, about 300 pumps are needed in the various parts of the city to avoid flooding. While the central workshop and fire brigade have about 50 pumps, 15 submersible pumps and ten fighter pumps, the others will be taken on rent from private parties.