Twitter
Advertisement

Ahmedabad: Rs300 crore washed down the drain

AMC's monsoon action plan seems to have made little difference; 5 inch rain in 8 hours floods city.

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

The civic body may have claimed that there would be no waterlogging in city if it rained one inch an hour. But, after the rain on Thursday, these claims seem to have fallen flat. It rained about five inches in eight hours, yet there was waterlogging at multiple spots.

AMC has laid down a total of 763-km-long storm water drainage line in the city, of which 332-km has been laid in last three-four years under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) at a cost of more than Rs300 crore. Ironically, majority of the problems are arising in the new lines.

AMC officials accepted the fact that there was more water on the city roads than usual. “The drainage lines flow at full capacity from 6 am to 12 noon, so rain water could not flow into these lines. Also, the intensity of rain was high between 2 pm and 4 pm, resulting in waterlogging at many places,” said IK Patel, deputy municipal commissioner of AMC.

Generally, Mithakhali underbridge does not get flooded, but on Thursday the underpass had to be closed for traffic for some time. Earlier, the storm water lines used to open directly in the river. “Now, with interceptors and pumping stations installed by the riverfront, the water does not flow into the river. This may have led to waterlogging in many areas,” said Patel. He also said that the civic body will look into the matter.

The civic body lowered the water level in the Sabarmati from 133 to 130 feet. “If the water level is high, the river will accept only a part of the flow coming from storm water drainage lines. The rest of the water will go back. So we opened seven gates to lower the water level,” said Patel.

The civic body has spent crores of rupees to solve waterlogging problem at Srinandnagar in Vejalpur ward and Bhairavnath area in Maninagar ward.

However, that has not helped. “Though the pumping station at Srinandnagar works at full capacity, rain water from Zalak Apartment area creates waterlogging problem in Vejalpur,” said Tarun Lad, city engineer of AMC.

The civic body’s failure to implement pre-monsoon action plan properly could also be a major reason for inconvenience to residents. The opposition Congress has alleged that of total 1,03,229 manholes in the city, only 40,385 were cleaned, while of the total 31,665 catch pits, only 9,419 have been cleaned.

“Despite warnings, the pre-monsoon action plan remains only on paper,” said Badruddin Shaikh, leader of opposition in AMC.

One of the top AMC officials also backed the claim of Congress. “Hardly any work takes place at the ground level. As a result, the city gets flooded,” said the official.

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement