Of the of 251 talukas in the state, 204 received rainfall on Sunday, with Ahmedabad city also being lashed by heavy showers. Science City and Gota areas in Ahmedabad’s northwest zone recorded the highest rainfall at 171 mm and 170.5 mm, respectively, across state.
While vehicles struggled on Sarkhej-Gandhinagar highway around Vaishno Devi circle and Nirma University, huge queues of vehicles were reported on the Vaishno Devi flyover and the Sarkhej-Gandhinagar highway. Roads near Sardar Vallabhbhai International Airport and Sindhu Bhawan were also flooded.
Also, roads caved in at Shela and Sector 2 in Gandhinagar. “The road cave-in in Shela happened in the AUDA (Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority) jurisdiction, as it is laying a drainage pipeline in the area. The AMC (Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation) is not involved. The road has now been repaired,” AMC Deputy Municipal Commissioner Mirant Jatin Parikh told The Indian Express.
As per AMC control room data, Naroda in the north zone recorded 120 mm of rainfall while Bopal in the southwest zone witnessed 161.5 mm of rain. While Chandkheda in the west zone received 78.5 mm of showers, Sarkhej in the southwest zone saw 142.9 mm and Jodhpur 99.5 mm of rainfall. Other areas that received heavy rainfall included Usmanpura (62.5 mm), Bodakdev (60.5 mm), Odhav (57 mm), Vitaynagar (51 mm) and Vasna (48 mm).
A road caved in at Shela in the city. (Express Photo by Nirmal Harindran)
Water entered residential areas in Sardarnagar and Vande Matram. Gates of Mithakhali, Akhbarnagar, Makarba and Silverstar underpasses were closed. The control room received 31 complaints of waterlogging.
Till 4 pm, Ahmedabad received an average rainfall of over 66.75 mm or 2.63 inch. So far, the city has recorded 123 mm or 4.85 inch of rainfall this monsoon.
Across the state, southern districts received heavy rainfall between 6 am and 6 pm on Sunday. In Surat district, Palsana received 153 mm of rain, followed by Bardoli (136 mm), Surat City (130 mm), Kamrej (124 mm), Olpad and Mahuva (119 mm). In Valsad district, Vapi witnessed 119 mm of showers, followed by Valsad (103 mm), Kaprada (90 mm) and Dharampur (78 mm). While Khergam in Navsari received 88 mm of rain and Bharuch 87 mm.
The India Meteorological Department has forecast heavy rain in the state till July 5. On July 1, very heavy rain is very likely in the south Gujarat district of Valsad, while heavy rain is likely in Bharuch, Surat, Dang, Tapi and Navsari as well as Saurashtra districts of Rajkot, Jamnagar, Porbandar, Junagadh and Dwarka.
From July 2 to 4, the weather department has issued heavy rain warning for districts of south Gujarat, including Surat, Dang, Tapi, Navsari and Valsad.