Downpour leaves Ahmedabad water-logged

In a matter of just an hour, the city found itself submerged under water. Ahmedabad that had got used to heavy rains in the morning, this time found itself inundated after heavy showers lashed the city after 6 pm.

The sudden and heavy rains led to chaos on the road as water-logging — a regular phenomenon — blocked several roads leading to traffic moving at a snail’s pace. Severe traffic jams also became the norm as traffic cops abandoned several junctions to escape the rain.

It was the new west zone that got the highest rainfall recording, 7.4 mm till 8pm, followed by the North and West zone that recorded over 6 mm of rainfall.

Authorities were forced to close the Mithakali underpass following water-logging. “It took me over one-and-a-half hour to reach from CG Road to Satellite. The water-logging had further slowed down the rush-time traffic,” said Rita Kothari, a professional working in a pharmaceutical company.

Overall the city received 5.23mm of rainfall till 8 in the evening. The Met department has meanwhile predicted one or two spells of thundershowers for the city on Saturday. Across the state more than 10 districts received rain on Friday. In South Gujarat, while there were no rains in Surat city, rains were recorded in six talukas of Surat district. Among the six, Umarpada taluka recorded the maximum 69 mm rainfall followed by Bardoli — 30 mm.

Other districts of South Gujarat region also recorded rains on Friday. Navsari district recorded 5 mm rains, while Dangs received 20 mm of rainfall. Dharampur, Pardi and Kaprada talukas of Valsad district recorded 2 mm, 4 mm and 8 mm of rains respectively. Tapi district recorded 25 mm of rains.The Met department has meanwhile predicted very heavy rains for South Gujarat while across the state light to moderate rains are expected in almost all districts of the state.