Bridges, flyovers add to waterlogging woes in Ahmedabad

Bridges are generally constructed in order to allow better mobility of people and vehicles, but severe water logging occurs at the spot where bridges and flyovers end, making it impossible to pass these areas which are submerged in knee deep water.  Not only pedestrians but vehicle drivers too have to struggle to save their two-wheelers.

During a heavy downpour, the areas where bridges end are the worst affected ones. The flyovers at Shivranjani, near GMDC and AEC leave people in a pitiful condition, having to wading through knee-deep water. Taxpayers and citizens, who are badly affected by the lack of proper drainage system and proper civic amenities in their locality, are demanding attention of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) officials towards their woes.

Neeraj Dhabalia, a resident of Judges Bungalow road, is a victim of AMC officials' negligence. "One of my friends stays near the Shivranjani flyover. The water logging is so severe in the area that visitors have no way to enter the society. Nearby societies' entrance also gets blocked," said Dhabalia. Not only bridges but also Nirnaynagar garnala pose a great threat to Amdavadis when it rains heavily.

"I stay in the Nirnaynagar area, and we have a major problem of water logging during the monsoons. The Nirnaynagar garnala gets submerged in water, and the area in front of Rameshwar Mahadev Temple is also completely flooded.

"If it rains continuously, then the Akhbarnagar underpass is also waterlogged. This makes commuting very difficult. This has been the case every monsoon but, there have hardly been any efforts to sort out this problem," says Radha Nair, a resident of Pancharahi society in Nirnaynagar.

Officials in the engineering department of the AMC say the problem near the bridge ends might be because of the small size of the catch-pit. "Also, because of bridge construction, the drainage line might be getting disrupted. There is no immediate solution to it and the water level would take around half an hour to recede," said the official.