Vishwamitri river flood in Vadodara in August 2024; What caused it, how it started, progressed and ended

October 01, 2024
Gujarat Vadodara

Japan K Pathak

Extremely heavy rainfall of around 12.44 inches in Vadodara coupled with very heavy rainfall of 7.51 inches in Halol on August 26 brought flood to the city of Vadodara. This was a 37 ft height flood, much higher than the floods in 2005, 2014 and 2019 in the city that were below 35.50 ft (at Kalaghoda bridge in Vishwamitri river in Vadodara). Due to this 37 ft height the flood waters travelled to more areas of city in more volume.

23 August

IMD forecast on August 23 clearly gave Red alert for August 25-26 for Vadodaradistrict  and Orange alert for Panchmahal. The red alert is given for the possibility of extremely heavy rainfall, meaning over 8 inches of rainfall. The red alert is released with a directive to administration to take action. Orange alert is given for very heavy rainfall, meaning below 8 inches of rainfall and it’s an alert with a directive to be prepared.

More articles of this series – (1) Vishwamitri has long history of flooding Vadodara; Campbell in 1883 wrote that it ‘frequently overflows in monsoons’

(2) Ajwa Dam was built based on annual average 39 inches rain in Vadodara; it’s now 42.24 inches and rising

(3) 1927 flood of Vishwamitri in Vadodara attracted global attention amid reports of Ajwa dam burst and 1000 deaths

(4) More Vishwamitri floods in Vadodara in 20th & 21st centuries; highest rain of June on record in 2005 caused first flood of century

(5) 2014 was a lackluster monsoon for Vadodara, but then came a surprise as September brought flood

(6) 2019: When Unprecedented Extremely Heavy Rains and Flooding Vishwamitri Stalled the City of Vadodara for 5 Days

(7) વડોદરામાં વિશ્વામિત્રી નદીના પૂરની સર્જાતી પરિસ્થિતિ સામેના સંભવિત ઉપાયો

24 August

The 24 August bulletin of IMD changed the forecast for 25 August and replaced Red with Orange alert in case of Vadodara, but kept Red alert intact for 26 August for Vadodara.

With these bulleting in hand, Vadodara Municipal Corporation(VMC) well anticipated the coming trouble in advance and opened 62 gates of Ajwa dam at 12 noon on 24th itself to release 1540 cusecs/hour water when Ajwa level was at 211.65 ft. Vishwamitri’s level in Vadodara was 11 ft at that time. At 10 pm on the same day Vishwamitri’s level rose to 14.60 ft due to release of water from Ajwa for last 10 hours. The water level at Ajwa at 10 pm was 211.72 ft. Release of water from 24 August noon was because of Red alert for 26 August by IMD and forecast of extremely heavy rainfall. The prescribed rule level was 212 ft (for period upto 30th August) and Ajwa was at 211.65 to 211.70 ft when 62 gates were opened at noon.

On same day, 24 August, Jambughoda taluka on upstream of Deo dam received 74 mm(nearly 3 inch) rainfall. Deo dam’s level reached 88.39 m with 36.52 cusecs inflow due to rainfall in upstream areas. To maintain 88.15 m level, 645 cusecs water was released from evening from dam to downstream river Dhadhar. Inflow at 6 am was 36.52 cuecs resulting in 88.39 m level. Danger level in dam is 90.15 m but as per the rule 88.15 m level needs to be maintained. However due to continuous inflow, a decision to release the water was taken in the afternoon, and from 7 pm, 645 cuecs water release was started. Release of water from Deo dam affects 13 villages of Vaghodiya taluka and 12 villages of Dabhoi taluka. District collector Bijal Shah ordered Taluka Development Officers, Mamlatdars and Talatis to remain present at headquarters. 1077 number was declared for disaster management related help for the people. On 25 August at 10 am, Deo dam was at 88.64 m level. 3 gates were opened in 0.30 m gap to maintain rule level.

on 24 August, Vadodara city/taluka received 1.57 inch rainfall, while Halol received 1.22 inch rainfall. Jambughoda received 2.91 inch rainfall(all figures in this para are 24 hour rainfall data ending at 6 am on August 25).

25 August

Apart from the Red Alert bulletins on 23rd and 24th August, IMD on 25 August also issued a flash flood risk for parts of Gujarat including Vadodara and Panchmahal. If you couple this flash flood warning with the earlier Red Alert warning, you can conclude what could come up on August 26 in Vadodara.

On the same day, in its daily bulletin, IMD continued to show Red alert for Vadodara for 26 August.

On 25 August, the city municipal commissioner Rana visited the Kalaghoda bridge to observe the level of river Vishwamitri. He said – ‘Day before yesterday(Halol had 41 mm, meaning less than 2 inches of rainfall on 23 August. while nearby Kalol had 67 mm), due to much rainfall in upstream areas of Ajwa dam, all 62 gates of Ajwa and Pratappura have been opened. In addition to this there has been a local rain. Therefore Vishwamitri’s level is above 17.50 ft. Alert level here is 23-24 ft. And the river is 7-8 ft down from that. In the last 15 hours the upstream area had lower rain and therefore Pratappura’s water level has gone down while the Ajwa level is 211.75 ft. In view of this, there’s no danger at present. There’s no need to fear. If there’s a lot of rain then we are ready for shifting. The administration is on alert mode. There’s no issue of shifting at present, but if there’s much rain then the administration is fully prepared for evacuation.’

The water level in Vishwamitri river at 10.30 am on August 25 was 18 ft but in rising pattern. As the Commissioner said, the gates of Ajwa and Pratappura were open already.

On the other hand, the gates of Deo dams were still open due to continuous rainfall in upstream where Jambughoda had over 2.50 inch rainfall in 24 hours on 25 August, and therefore river Dhadhar was flowing at some level.

On 25 August, Vadodara city/taluka had 3.74 inch rainfall, while Halol had 1.10 inch rainfall, and Jambughoda 2.51 inch in 24 hours ending 6 am on August 26.

This nearly 5.50 inch rainfall in Vadodara on 24/25 August was adding to Vishwamitri river, while discharge of river in downstream was slowed by Dhadhar river due to continuing release of water from Deo dam following over 5 inch rainfall in two days in Jambudhoda taluka and more in other upstream areas.

Meanwhile release of 1,600 cusecs water from Ajwa was also continuing due to infllow from Halol. In this situation, the level of Vishwamitri reached 19.22 ft at 8.30 pm on 25 August. Due to opening of three gates of Deo dam and release in Dhadhar river, the level of Dhadhar had gone up, slowing down the speed of discharge from Vishwamitri river. On the other hand Vadodara was witnessing fresh rainfall. VMC had started shifting people from Sayajigunj based Parshuram Bhattha already.

26 August

It was a Janmashtrami divas. As I mentioned Vishwamitri’s level was over 19 ft at 8.30 pm previous evening, and it was in rising trend. Ajwa dam’s level too was around 212 ft and it was also in rising trend. In this situation any more rainfall could result into crossing of danger level.

During 6 am to 12 noon, Vadodara city-taluka had received 168 mm (6.61 inch) rainfall, while Halol had 97 mm(3.81 inch) rainfall.

Ajwa dam level at 10.37 am was 212.34 ft while Vishwamitri level was 20.60 ft at the same time. Pratappura was 224.07 ft.

At 4 pm, Vishwamitri crossed the danger level by going beyond 26 ft.

At 4.40 pm, Ajwa was at 214.12 ft while Vishwamitri was at 26.70 ft. Pratappura was 226.99 at 3.48 pm. So in both case, Vishwamitri river and Ajwa dam, the danger level was crossed.

By 4 pm Vadodara had received 242 mm(9.52 inch) rainfall since 6 am, while Halol received 143 mm(5.62 inch) rainfall in the same period.

By 6 pm, VMC Commissioner said the inflow of water was too much in Vishwamitri and the level was above 27 ft and in a couple of hours water would start flowing outside the river. It’s  a very serious situation. Rain is increasing. Very heavy volume of water is coming. People living in low lying areas aligned to the river must shift to safer places. We have arranged buses for them. It’s a serious flood situation.

Several trains were declared cancelled for August 27 by Railways.

By 7 pm around, Vishwamitri crossed 28 ft mark, following which, the Kalaghoda bridge was closed for traffic. The level at 7 pm was 28.7 ft.

In its 26 August bulletin, IMD gave a Red alert for the entire Gujarat for August 26, barring just five districts. Vadodara continued to be under Red alert forecast, while earlier Orange alert declared for Panchmahal for August 26 was upgraded to Red Alert not just for 26 August but also for 27 August in this latest bulletin.

IMD in its briefing said – A deep depression over West MP and East Rajasthan around Guna yesterday moved 13 km per hour and its position today was around Udaipur which is 180 km away from Ahmedabad. THe current movement was 7 km per hour. It will enter the North East Arabian sea and adjoining Saurashtra Kutch areas on 29 August. In view of this and a monsoon tough around Jaisalmer and South Gujarat offshore trough, extremely heavy rainfall warning and red alert for Gujarat foe August 26.

As the level crossed 30 ft mark, late in the evening, all river bridges were closed for traffic. They were – Mangal Pandey bridge, Mujmahuda bridge, Fatehganj-EME bridge, Atladra – Manjalpur bridge, Sama – Harni bridge, Vadsar – Land hall bridge, Narhari hospital – Kashiba children hospital bridge.

During 6 am (about sunrise) to 10 pm the city received 11.88 inches of rainfall. Halol received 7.28 inches rain in the same period. In case of river Dhadhar, Jambughoda which is upstream of Deu dam received 7.24 inches rain in the same period.

Worth noting that in 24 hours cycle from 26 August 6 am to 27 August 6 am, Vadodara received 12.44 inch rainfall. Halol recieved 7.51 inch rain, while for Dhadhar river, the upstream Jambughoda of Deo dam received 7.40 inch rain. This was the day that caused 37 ft flood.

27 August 

With Vishwamitri water level above 31 ft, the ground floor based shops and markets in Jetalpur – Sayajigunj area could be seen under water through the night. The situation was similar at Dairy Den circle. The level of water in Vishwamitri meanwhile rose to over 32 ft by sunrise, way more than 26 ft danger mark. However the level of water in Ajwa dam came down from 214.84 last evening to 214.12 on August 27  morning.

Gujarat completed 100 percent rainfall of average rainfall in the last 10 years on 27 August morning.

Vadodara city/taluka got 1.25 inch rainfall, while Halol received 1.65 inch rainfall during 24 hours (27th 6 am to 28th 6 am).

Ajwa dam’s peak level during this flood was 214.90 ft, while Pratappura was at 229 ft(meaning 3 ft overflow). It is reported that Vishwamitri’s capacity is 35,000 cusecs, against which the water released from Ajwa during the flood was at its peak 45,000 cusecs.

The morning brought some relief to the people of the city, as the water level of the Ajwa Sarovar Reservoir started decreasing early in the morning. At around 1:50 AM, the water level at Ajwa was at 214.67 feet, and since then, it was receding continuously. As of 10:00 AM, the water level came down to 213.98 feet, which was below the danger level of 214 feet.

On the other hand, the water level of the Vishwamitri River was at 32.05 feet at the Kalaghoda Bridge, which was over 6 feet above danger mark of 26 feet. However, the pace at which the water was rising in the river on Monday had slowed down.  The river was maintaining the water level around 32 feet since 5:30 AM this morning.

Vishwamitri’s level touched 35 ft at 1.30 pm and 35.25 ft at 2 pm. Vadodara Municipal Corporation(VMC)’s live censor report stopped updating on the website, but the level kept rising and as per the briefings that evening by VMC Commissioner and Standing Committee Chairman, the level had actually went above 37 ft.

At 3 pm Ajwa level was 213.90, at 4.30 it came down to 213.85.At 6.30 it came down to 213.80. At 7.30 pm it came down to 213.75, at 8.30 pm it was further down to 213.70. At 9 pm it was 213.65. At 10 pm it ws 213.60. At 10.30 pm it was again 213.65 and then remained steady for hours at this position.

The administration could take a decision to stop water release from Ajwa when the level slides below 212.85 ft mark. Because at 212.85 mark, water release starts automatically and it can’t be stopped.

Municipal Commissioner in the evening through a video statement informed about a decision to shut the gates of Ajwa and Pratappura dams and stop the release of water when Ajwa level was 213.65 ft. He said the level of Vishwamitri river reached 37 ft mark, following which the city witnessed 5 ft water logging. As per the rule Ajwa dam’s water level has to be maintained at 212 ft mark, but in order to reduce the level of Vishwamitri river in Vadodara and for fast decrease in water level, the government has decided that Ajwa dam’s gates are to be closed even at the present level of 213.65 ft. The government has also decided to shut the gates of Pratappura reservoir, he added. MLA Keyur Rokadiya who was present at the city control room informed that the district collector has decided to release the water in Dhadhar river from Deo dam.

While release of water from Ajwa and Pratappura stopped, it was not known whether release from Deo dam had actually stopped or not.

August 28

One positive aspect amid many challenges was that the rainfall  shifted to coastal Saurashtra. Thus, Panchmahal and other parts of Central Gujarat that contribute to Ajwa and Vishwamitri witnessed quite insignificant rainfall compared to the previous five days.

At 12 midnight on August 28, 2024, the Vishwamitri was flowing at a water level of 35.25 feet, while the water level at Ajwa was recorded at 213.65 feet. The gates of Ajwa have been closed at this level to provide some relief to Vishwamitri. The government also decided to shut the gates of the Pratappura reservoir, as informed by the Municipal Commissioner.

Even after six hours at 6 AM, the water level of Vishwamitri remained at 35.25 feet, while the water level at Ajwa increased to 213.75 feet as the gates of the reservoir were closed.

At around 9 AM, the Chief Minister tweeted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called him to inquire about the flood situation in the state and assured his support. Even at this point the water level had not changed, Vishwamitri was at 35.35 feet and Ajwa was also at the same level of 213.75 feet.

 

Later, two ministers Rushikesh Patel and Jagdish Panchal were moved to Vadodara as flood situation in the city was continuing. The ministers held meeting with city municipal commissioner, local MLAs and BJP leaders, discussing the possible ways out to bring down the water levels of flooding Vishwamitri river.

Addressing the media about the situation, Gujarat spokesperson Minister Rushikesh Patel said, “With the rise in the water level of the Vishwamitri River passing through Vadodara, the situation has become tense on both banks of the river. Areas on both sides of the river are submerged under 10 to 12 feet of water. We have rehabilitated more than 5,000 people today, and over 12,000 people have been rescued. Currently, one NDRF team, one SDRF team, and one Army column are working on the ground, and three new Army columns along with one NDRF and one SDRF team have also been allocated. For those trapped in flooded areas, we have arranged all the facilities to provide them with food and medicines.”

“As of now, the water level of the Ajwa Dam is 213.8 feet, and the Paratapura Dam is at 231 feet, with the rule level of Ajwa being 212 feet. Water has been released from the dam, but to prevent further flooding in the city, we have closed the gates of the dam. The Vishwamitri River, which is currently at 37 feet, is overflowing well above the danger mark. In some areas, the water is around 10-12 feet deep, and in others, it is about 5-6 feet. Although the situation is tense, the district administration and government are focused on Vadodara,” he added.

“We have distributed around 38,000 food packets, and today, 100,000 food packets have been prepared for distribution in the coming time. The water flow has stopped in the catchment area of Ajwa, and the Vishwamitri level is also gradually decreasing, so we hope that in the next 12-15 hours, the water will recede. However, in case of further rain, the administration will work to provide food, water, and other services to people who are stuck in their homes,” said Patel.

Patel also stated that as a long-term measure, the state government is exploring a proposal to divert floodwaters into the Narmada canal instead of releasing them into the Vishwamitri River.

To carry out the rescue and relief operation, at around 4 pm, three more columns of the Army, along with one team each from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), were moved to the city. Before this deployment, four Army columns, four NDRF teams, and five SDRF teams were already on the ground.

Addressing the power supply problem, an MGVCL officer said, “Due to heavy rains and the overflowing of the Vishwamitri River, many areas have been cut off from electricity. Several feeders that were affected were restored by Tuesday morning. However, as the Vishwamitri water entered the city on Tuesday, for safety reasons in areas where feeders have submerged in floodwater, a total of 68 feeders and 365 transformers have been shut down.”

The water level of Vishwamitri river has been stuck at 35.25 feet however, Cabinet Minsiter Rushikesh Patelas well the VMC commissioner in their briefing had stated that the level of Vishwamitri was 37 feet. This discrepancy was because the measuring mark at Kalaghoda Bridge in Vadodara is up to 35.25 feet. The measuring system is below the bridge. Once the water starts overtopping Kalaghoda Bridge, the official measurement in the control room shows 35.25 feet, but due to overtopping, the actual measurement can be 37 feet.

The Armed Forces helicopter was used to distribute food packets in Siddharth Bungalow area of Vadodara which had been under water since several hours.

 

29 August

The gates of the Ajwa and Pratappura reservoirs had been closed for over 24 hours, but the level of Vishwamoti was stuck at 35.25 feet. However, in a relief for the city, at 12 midnight on the intertwining night of August 28th and 29th, the water level started to recede. According to the official online record, it was 34.50 feet at midnight, down from 35.25 feet. The VMC Mayor and Standing Committee Chairman stated that the level has effectively come down to 34 feet, and the situation is expected to normalize in the next 24 hours.

Shital Mistry, Standing Commitee Chairman of VMC said the teams from Surat and Ahmedabad are arriving for post-flood cleaning drive tomorrow.

The level of water remained steady at 35.25 ft mark for over 24 hours, but in a good news, the level has for the first time in the day started decreasing. The reduction in the water level of Vishwamitri is thanks to the closure of gates of Ajwa and Pratappura dams, reduced rainfall in Vadodara, Panchmahal and entire catchment areas including the catchment areas of Dhadhar river. As per the rules 212 ft level has to be maintained at Ajwa and surplus water needs to be discharged. However breaching the rules, the government has decided to maintain the level at 214.75 ft at Ajwa dam for now as a temporary measure by closing all 62 gates. The release from Ajwa will be mandatory if the level goes up at 214.85 ft. However due to lack of rains in Central Gujarat including Panchmahal, Ajwa level is steady at 214.75 through last 24 hours.

 

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The water level of Vishwamitri river at Kalaghoda bridge in Vadodara has come down to 33 ft at around 5.45 am of August 29th. The river water which was overtopping the Kalaghoda bridge last evening has gone down below the bridge. Though the bridge is not reopened for traffic, some vehicles could be seen passing over the bridge as the overtopping ended.

At 8 AM on August 29th, the Vishwamitri level decreased to 32.50 feet. Waterlogging in 70 percent of Vadodara city, which was observed last evening, has started to ease gradually. More improvement is expected once the level drops below 31 feet, and the city will be able to normalize when the level falls below 30 feet.

At around 9 AM, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel once again to assess the heavy rain and flood situation in his home state. During the call, PM Modi expressed concern about the flooding of the Vishwamitri River in Vadodara.

According to the Municipal Commissioner, the administration is working in direction to bring back normality in next two to three days. The level of water of Vishwamitri river went below 32 ft and was at 31.50 ft at noon of August 29th. Bridges were being inspected and Kala Ghoda bridge was reopened for traffic. VMC commissioner said the focus is now on cleaning and health related tasks. Meanwhile elected members of BJP and their teams continued to distribute ration kits, breads, milk etc items today morning in affected areas.

Two deadbodies were found on the step to basement in Atithya party plot in Vemali. The relatives of two youths protested and demanded action against the party plot owner. They said one of two youths dead was working at party plot for last 11 years while the other was temporary worker. The reason of death is suspected to be due to electric shock. Some Nilgais are reportedly dead in Kamatibaug zoon.

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A 10 to 11 ft long crocodile was seen straying near Arts faculty building of MS University in the morning. Efforts were on to capture it. Snakes were also found at several places after flood water went away. Another stray crocodile, 15 ft in size was captured by forest department on Narhari hospital road in Kamnath Nagar from a house compound. Another full size crocodile was also captured from Avsar party plot in Sama area.

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At around 2 PM, Tejas Parmar, MD of MGVCL, stated in a briefing, “Given the flood situation in Vadodara, several feeders and transformers were shut off. As of now, a total of 44 feeders and 165 transformers are still shut off in the city due to various reasons. The Vidyut Nagar Substation, which had submerged in water earlier, has become functional after the water receded. From the Vidyut Nagar substation, power is supplied through 27 feeders to various areas, such as Jetalpur Road, Akota, Akota Police Line, areas of Alkapuri, Diwalipura, and some areas of Atladara. The MGVCL teams are starting the power supply after inspecting all the transformers in these areas. Therefore, if the transformers are not underwater, power supply is expected to be restored by evening.”

“As the transformers were submerged in water, sometimes during restoration, some issues occur, and blasts also happen at times. Our team is working with precision, and by evening, we plan to restore electricity in most places in the city,” he added.

Parmar also mentioned that, in addition to MGVCL teams, 50 teams from DGVCL are also arriving in Vadodara and will be utilized in the restoration work.

At the same time the Gujarat government had moved in-charge secretary Vinod Rao, Chief Minister’s Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Atul Gor, and RAC Sudhir Patel to flood-hit Vadodara to assist and coordinate the relief and rescue works.

At around 4 PM, MoS Home Harsh Sanghavi shareed details of Power and Water supply restoration, cleaning work post flood in Vadodara.

About power supply, Sanghavi said 118 feeders were shut during waterlogging; out of them, only 12 feeders are shut now. He said all feeders where waterlogging is over will start functioning again by midnight today. 40 teams are working, and 10 more are called for restoration of power by making feeders and transformers functioning again. The work of power restoration will continue through tonight.

Wherever waterlogging ends, power restoration will start at that minute. Teams are decided per feeder and per transformer.

Sanghavi said instructions are given to collect JCBs and dumper trucks from nearby industrial units and add them to the strength of VMC for cleaning work post-flood. He said 48 JCB, 78 dumpers, 62 tractors, and 232 waste carts are already procured in addition to the existing strength of VMC, and so far, 185 metric tons of waste have been cleared.

Health teams were taking care of people’s health in the city. 40 PHCs, 4 CHCs, and 72 urban health centers, along with 1,350 health workers from the city district, had joined this operation. The minister also appealed to private doctors to participate in this effort.

During the late evening of August 29th, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel arrived in flood-hit Vadodara and held a meeting with all MLAs, MPs, and senior officials from the district administration and the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) at the district collectorate.

The senior-most MLA from Vadodara, Yogesh Patel of the BJP, along with other party MLAs from the city, Manisha Vakil and Chaitanya Desai, met with the Chief Minister and complained that the Chief Fire Officer of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC), Parth Brahmbhatt, was not answering their phone calls during the critical flood situation.

Yogesh Patel stated that he had previously raised this issue with the Municipal Commissioner. He expressed that while the city was facing flooding, the Chief Fire Officer was not responding to the phone calls of even the MLAs, let alone common citizens. Patel further noted that on the first day, the fire officer did not answer calls, and on the next day, someone else picked up his phone. He emphasized that such behavior should not be tolerated in the department.

Next day at August 30th, at 10 a.m., the Vishwamitri river’s water level had decreased below the danger level of 26 feet and was at 24.60 feet. A massive cleaning operation with the help of staffers of Amdavad Municipal Corporation(AMC) and Surat Municipal Corporation(SMC) started. Many traders faced huge losses due to damged goods in their shops. Some even cried on the camera. Some others complained that everytime it’s late in the night when flood waters arrive in the city, which makes it very difficult to move the goods to safer place. The traders also complained that they were not given any alert in advance regarding flood of such a scale. Cars were hit by the flood massively. In case of electric cars, the situation was worst. The car companies had to take open grounds on rent to park the damaged cars that were needing repairs. The residents of Siddharth bungalow were so upset and fed up, that they didn’t allow reporters to enter their society, as they thought such media reporting would not serve any purpose.

Conclusion

Unlike the floods of 2014 and 2019, during the 2024 flood, the Chief Minister didn’t play a prominent role. He didn’t appear on video to explain the situation. In 2014, Anandiben, and in 2019, Rupani, played on the front foot and regularly explained the situation through video briefings. However, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel acted like a media-shy person. His communication was limited to visuals of he attending meetings at the Command and Control Centre in Gandhinagar and related text press releases. No briefings, no speaking to the media, and absolutely no question of taking questions from the media. The Chief Secretary and Relief Commissioner also failed to create any sense of positivity. This was completely contrary to how the proactive former IAS officer Pankaj Kumar acted during the 2019 flood. Pankaj Kumar kept communicating updates and explained the situation primarily through Twitter. The Chief Ministers in 2014 and 2019 succeeded in turning the Vadodara floods into a state-level affair. In 2024, due to the media-shy nature of the Chief Minister, the flood was perceived as a city-level issue, which led to more severe reactions from the people against the local leadership. Several city councilors faced local anger. The narrative grew stronger that corruption in the local civic body, which allowed illegal properties and encroachments to spring up in riverside areas, actually caused the flood situation. To calm the situation, the state government went the extra mile and announced relief for damaged or lost household items (gharvakhri). This was the first time such relief had been announced after a flood. Was it a bad precedent? Time will tell.

The Chief Minister, during his visit to the city, verbally announced Rs. 1200 crore for the Vishwamitri project in a closed door meeting with officials. This detail was shared by MoS Home Harsh Sanghavi hours after the meeting. Sanghavi is the guardian minister for Vadodara. He didn’t appear when the flood situation was at its peak, apparently because he was occupied with post-death rituals for his father. However, post-flood, he arrived and tried to pacify the narrative using his communication skills. This was very much a requirement and he did well to address it. The city BJP and civic body had very bad press for weeks after the flood. The civic body conducted surveys, accessed the records, utilized maps, and identified illegal structures/extensions in riverside areas. Some of these constructions were demolished by the VMC, while others were destroyed by the persons in question themselves. Zone conversion in riverside areas, concealing and narrowing of Bhukhi kaans, construction of a clubhouse and wall by the Balaji group at its Agora Mall, etc., were topics that remained in discussion for weeks. The State government appointed a committee led by the water expert Navlawala for suggestions on a long-term solution to the flood problem in Vadodara.

A four-inch rainfall on Sunday in Vadodara city in September lifted the Vishwamitri river level to 25 ft, just one foot below the danger mark. Fortunately, due to no further rainfall in subsequent hours and days, the level started decreasing after 2 pm on Monday. The situation once again brought the issue of Vadodara’s flood vulnerability into the limelight. Eventually, Navratri arrived, and the city moved on. There was light rain in the latter part of Navratri, both in the city and the larger regions of Central and South Gujarat.

In the next parts of this series, we would discuss some practical solutions.

Author can be reached at japanpathak @ gmail .com 

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