"Ahmedabad Smart City": Congress Takes A Swipe After City Road Caves In

A road collapsed in Gujarat's Ahmedabad today as the city witnessed heavy rain, disrupting traffic movement and inundating low-lying areas. A video shared by news agency ANI shows a caved-in road in the city's Shela area triggered by the heavy rains. A big pothole was formed in the middle of the road, the video shows. 

The video shows the middle of the road caved in as the water flows into the large cavity.

Several roads and underpasses became inaccessible after being flooded in Surat, Bhuj, Vapi, Bharuch and Ahmedabad, news agency PTI reported quoting officials. The wet spell will continue for the next four days in Gujarat, as per the Met department.

The Kerala unit of Congress did not miss an opportunity to take a dig at the ruling BJP in the state after the incident of road collapse surfaced. It posted a video of the collapsed road and wrote, "Underground rain water harvesting facility recently inaugurated in Ahmedabad Smart City. This ensures that not a single drop of water gets leaked to Arabian Sea." (sic)

Waterlogging, Trees Uprooted In Ahmedabad

Due to heavy rainfall, waterlogging was also reported from Ahmedabad and Surat with Palsana taluka in Surat district receiving 153 mm of rainfall, the highest in the state, in just ten hours, reported news agency PTI.

In another incident, a tree uprooted and fell on a car that got damaged after heavy rainfall at KK Nagar in Ahmedabad, reported ANI.

Normal life was affected in Ahmedabad due to the rain as the city dwellers struggled to walk through knee-deep water even on main roads.

Other visuals from the city show a flooded kitchen and a man dragging his two-wheeler through the waterlogged road amid the rainfall.

Between 6 am and 4 pm, Ahmedabad city received 62 mm of rainfall, as per a PTI report.

The rainwater gathered in the underpass near Pathik Ashram was pumped out with the help of a water bowser. Visuals show the underpass near Pathik Ashram flooded with rainwater.

The situation was no different in Gujarat's Gandhinagar where a car fell into a crater after a part of a road caved out today amid incessant rainfall. 

Why Is It Raining Heavily In Gujarat?

According to the weather department, Gujarat is experiencing a wet spell due to cyclonic circulation over the northeast Arabian Sea adjoining the Saurashtra region. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecasted rainfall in all parts of the state for the next five days and sounded an orange alert for five districts. 

Speaking to ANI, IMD Scientist Pradeep Sharma said, "There will be rains in all parts of Gujarat in the next 5 days. A warning for very heavy rain is issued for Saurashtra and Kutch for today. An orange alert has been issued for Bharuch, Surat, Navsari, Valsad and Dadra Nagar Haveli."

Isolated places in south and central Gujarat and Saurashtra region are expected to receive heavy rains over the next two days, IMD stated in a release. On July 3 and 4, Valsad and Navsari districts in south Gujarat and Banaskantha district in north Gujarat are expected to receive significant rainfall.

As many as 43 talukas received more than 40 mm of rainfall in just ten hours between 6 am and 4 pm on Sunday, while Palsana taluka received 153 mm of rain, the State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC) stated.

(With agency inputs)