Vadodara Fights Back: Post-Flood Recovery in Full Swing

Vadodara is recovering from severe flooding caused by the Vishwamitri river, which swelled to a dangerous level due to heavy rains and water release from Ajwa dam. Officials are working on restoring normalcy with measures such as electricity and drinking water restoration. State and local politicians are facing criticism from residents.

Gujarat's Vadodara, where a swollen Vishwamitri river flooded several areas amid torrential downpours, is limping back to normalcy as water has receded from most parts of the city, allowing people to move freely, officials said on Thursday.

From its peak level of 37 feet, 12 feet above the danger mark, Vishwamitri, which runs through the city, is now flowing at 31 feet, the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) said in a release.

Gujarat Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi visited the city to review the current situation and ongoing relief activities as a few pockets are still waterlogged and facing power outages.

Rain-related incidents have claimed 26 lives in Gujarat over the past four days, while around 17,800 people were evacuated from flood-affected areas amid heavy showers in several parts of the state, officials have said.

Vishwamitri crossed the danger mark of 25 feet on Tuesday morning following heavy rains and due to the release of water from Ajwa dam. It eventually touched the 37 feet mark on Wednesday, breached its banks and inundated several parts of the city.

According to the VMC release, the water level has come down to 31 feet as the gates of Ajwa dam were shut on Wednesday. Water has subsided in most parts of the city, including the Sayajigunj, Fatehgunj, outside Railway station and Harni which were the worst hit.

Talking to reporters, Sanghavi said Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel would visit the city in the evening to take stock of the situation.

"As the floodwater has subsided, we have started pumping stations to provide drinking water to people and switched on electricity feeders and transformers, which were shut as a precautionary measure. We have deployed 50 teams to restore electricity in the city," said Sanghavi.

He said the state government will conduct a survey about the losses incurred by people and take an appropriate decision about compensation.

Meanwhile, city MLAs Manisha Vakil and Balkrishna Shukla faced people's ire when they visited residential societies after the water receded.

In a video shared on social media, people can be seen asking Shukla and city BJP president Vijay Shah to leave their area, with residents alleging that politicians were nowhere to be seen when flood waters entered their homes.

Some even sought compensation for their losses, while a few others alleged that political leaders were only interested in getting themselves clicked in such situations. Earlier, CM Patel had directed authorities to deploy cleaning equipment and spray disinfectants in Vadodara city as soon as flood water started receding.

(With inputs from agencies.)