Ahmedabad: Between 6am and 4pm on July 23, the city received an average rainfall of 95.9mm. Ninety per cent of the flood-prone spots cleared before this monsoon were inundated again —including 34 in the city’s west.The infrastructure failure at three locations is glaring because Rs 60 crore has been spent over the past decade to fortify them for monsoon.These locations are the area near Mahila Talav (Bodakdev ward), Srinandnagar (Vejalpur ward), and Madhumalti Apartments (Kathwada).But on July 23, stormwater entered residential societies at all three locations. The situation at Srinandnagar and Madhumalti Apartments grew so acute that AMC was forced to distribute food packets to residents.Heavy rainfall in Aug 2024 caused severe waterlogging at Madhumalti Apartments, with the AMC fire brigade rescuing 70 residents. The area fell under Auda till 2020, when it was merged into AMC limits.Auda’s attempts to make the area flooding-resistant came to nothing.Chief minister at the time, Vijay Rupani, visited Madhumalti Apartments in 2017, when the society and its surroundings were inundated, and promised a solution.Despite crores spent by Auda and AMC, the three locations remain textbook cases of expenditure without outcome: Madhumalti (nine years without relief), Srinandnagar (12 years), and Vanshree Villa Society in Bodakdev (five years).BoxesMadhumalti Apartments, Kathwada: ₹30cr effort washed outAuda and AMC spent over Rs 20 crore laying stormwater pipelines for Madhumalti Apartments and surrounding societies, connecting the pipelines to Singarva lake.The pipelines, however, deliver more water than the lake can hold: its capacity is 270 million litres, but inflow now stands at 520 million litres.When flooding hit the area in July 2022, a Rs 24 crore plan was drawn up to carry Singarva lake’s overflow to the Khari river. But the plan has not been executed.Before the 2026 monsoon, AMC completed a Rs 9.9 crore stormwater pumping system to drain Dayawan lake. Under NDMA Phase-3, AMC has also prepared cost estimates to connect Dayawan lake to Singarva lake and Singarva lake to Khodiyar lake.A detailed project report has been submitted and tendering will begin once approved.BoxAfter 10 years of deluge, flooding worsens in Vejalpur’s SrinandnagarSrinandnagar in Vejalpur has faced persistent waterlogging for over a decade. In 2021, AMC built a Rs 2.5 crore stormwater line there.Earlier, AMC constructed a pumping station costing Rs 10 crore. But the projects have produced no noticeable improvement.The recent rain spell from July 23 to 27 inundated Srinandnagar, Bakraw City, and low-lying societies in Jivraj Park.Before this monsoon, AMC desilted stormwater and drainage lines along Sonal Cinema Road in Sarkhej ward and in Srinandnagar.Work is under way on a Rs 36.3 crore RCC duct line running from Sonal Cinema Road in Vejalpur through Makarba Police Quarters to Sabarmati river, scheduled for completion in 2027.BoxRajpath-Rangoli Rd’s ₹25cr flood-guards wilt every yearOver the past five years, AMC’s engineering department spent Rs 25 crore on new stormwater lines, desilting old lines, and constructing percolating wells, yet waterlogging persists in societies along Rajpath-Rangoli Road in Bodakdev.Before the 2023 monsoon, AMC spent Rs 19.9 crore desilting interlinked stormwater lines across six lakes. Before the 2024 monsoon, AMC built a percolating well near Mahila Talav.Yet neighbouring societies continue to flood. During the July 23 rain, water coursed through the roads outside Vrajvilla Bungalows and Vanshree Villa Bungalows, breaching the premises of several properties.A temporary dewatering pump was deployed near Mahila Talav during the 2025 monsoon. AMC is now acquiring a plot for a permanent stormwater pumping station in the area.Despite desilting ahead of the 2026 monsoon, water levels at this location regularly exceed 6 inches.
