Vadodara comes together in light of the sudden flash floods

The city of Vadodara has drowned and come back to normalcy in the last 72 hours. From almost clear roads in the morning, to receiving over 20 inches of rainfall in just 12 hours on Wednesday, major areas of the city were not only submerged, but also witnessed crocodiles flowing in with the waters of the swelling Vishwamitri River.

The levels of Ajwa Dam and Vishwamitri River crossed their dangerous marks with the highest being 212 ft. and 34.50 ft. respectively. With that, the crocodiles of the river found a new course to flow in to swamped housing societies nearby. Low lying areas in the city were nearly submerged in water, leaving many stranded on roads, houses and hospitals as the water levels went up to the chest level. Around 4-5 people were killed in the plight of the floods, of whom one was a partner of the famous Damodardas Jewelers. Around 22 trains stood cancelled and all local and domestic transportation including the Vadodara Airport was put on halt.

The downpour took the citizens by surprise, however the prompt rescue and relief actions taken by the local authorities, NDRF teams, fire brigade department, Police and NGOs was something that was appreciated by one and all. In the light of the flash floods, around 48 power feeders were stopped as precaution which led to a major part of the city facing a complete blackout for more than 24 hours. The NDRF stood by their motto to serve the people at any degree of disaster and evacuated at least 5000 people from the inundated areas of Vadodara. 2 pregnant women were rescued from a flooded hospital in Waghodia and taken to a safer location by the fire brigade. A 1.5 month old baby was rescued by a policeman from waters above chest level. The rescued people were given shelter in schools, colleges, homes, temples, mosques and a relief drive was carried by NGOs to provide food, water, and health services to the sheltered. Around 4 animal rescue teams and animal lovers in the city rescued stray animals and sheltered them in their own houses. An efficient government and MGVCL were on their toes to restore power in the city, along with carrying out dewatering and sanitation operations around the city. The employees of MGVCL voluntarily stayed back in offices for more than 30 hours to fix the feeders.

This year, social media played a huge role in the flood-like situation of Vadodara. People took to Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to help one another in terms of rescue operations, providing food and water, giving shelter to the needy and spreading word about the current situation among others. For the first time, the city police and corporation took to social media to spread awareness of the water-logged roads and traffic diversion. More so, they also kept check of the people who were left helpless in the marooned areas of the city via messages received on social media.

In a rare yet applauding episode, people from across the city voluntarily distributed food, water and provided shelter to those in need. The responsible citizens of the city of Vadodara, restored people’s faith humanity as they stood in unison to face the adversities of the flash floods that left the normal life of the city crippled.