Ahmedabad, Sep 14 (IAMS) The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has activated round-the-clock control rooms across all seven municipal zones to respond to rain-related emergencies, as the city recorded 768.29 mm (30.25 inches) of rainfall up to 1 p.m. on Monday, according to an AMC rainfall report.
The special 'Monsoon-2026 control-room' network has been put in place to provide immediate assistance in cases of waterlogging, fallen trees, drainage problems, fire emergencies and other civic issues.
The arrangement has been established under the supervision of Ahmedabad Mayor Hitesh Barot and Municipal Commissioner Banchhanidhi Pani, with telephone and WhatsApp numbers issued for residents to report emergencies and seek assistance.
The main AMC monsoon control room is operating at Sanskar Kendra in Paldi. In the Central Zone, the zonal control room is at Sardar Patel Bhavan in Danapith.
For the West Zone, the zonal control room at Ramanbhai Patel Bhavan in Usmanpura. In the North West Zone, the zonal control room is at Rajmata Scindia Bhavan in Bodakdev.
The South West Zone control room at the late Tushar Deshmukh Bhavan near Karnavati Club on SG Highway. In the East Zone, the zonal control room is at Shri Harubhai Mehta Bhavan in Viratnagar, while the Odhav Control Room at the Odhav Muster Station can be reached.
The North Zone control room at Shri Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan is in Memco.
Separate control rooms operated by the gardens department have also been kept active to deal with incidents involving trees and other conditions in gardens and surrounding areas during the monsoon.
Other emergency services have also been linked to the control-room arrangement.
The fire brigade control room near Tagore Hall in Paldi can be contacted on 101, 102, 079-22148465, 079-22148466, 079-22148467 and 079-22148468.
The STP control room at the Riverfront Drainage Pumping Station is available on 9726415808, while the SRFDCL control room at Riverfront House can be reached on 079-26580430.
The rainfall report issued by the AMC Monsoon Main Control Room at Paldi said that, as of 1 p.m. on September 14, the city had recorded 768.29 mm of rainfall.
At Vasna Barrage, seven of the total gates had been opened: gates 25, 26 and 27 to a height of three feet, and gates 21, 22, 23 and 24 to two feet.
The report recorded the barrage level at 127.50 feet. The report also recorded the status of two underpasses.
At Mithakhali, pumping operations for the removal of rainwater were continuing.
The LC-25-Makarba underpass was shown as having been closed at 11:43 a.m. and reopened at 11:45 a.m., after which it was operating normally.
Between 6 p.m. on September 13 and noon on September 14, AMC's online complaint system recorded 11 incidents involving fallen trees. All 11 were listed for disposal.
There were also 25 complaints concerning rainwater accumulation, of which two had been disposed of and 23 remained under action at the time of the report.
To deal with waterlogging in low-lying areas, AMC said 92 Varun pumps had been deployed across the city. The deployment included 34 Varun pumps and 58 fighter pumps.
The zone-wise figures listed 12 pumps in the North Zone, 12 in the South Zone, 12 in the East Zone, eight in the West Zone, two in the Central Zone, 24 in the North West Zone and 11 in the South West Zone, with the detailed equipment table accounting for the overall deployment.
The civic body also reported the deployment of manpower and machinery across its zones, including 203 personnel in desilting teams, 426 labourers, 49 tractors and other machinery and pump resources.
The equipment listed included tractors, trollies, fighter pumps, Mazda pumps and Varun pumps.
For drainage and rainwater disposal, 43 storm-water pumping stations, 79 drainage pumping stations and 90 sumps were listed as operational across the zones.
The South Zone accounted for 16 storm-water pumping stations, 20 drainage pumping stations and 46 sumps, while the East Zone had 12, 15 and 29 respectively.
The North Zone had 10 storm-water pumping stations, 14 drainage pumping stations and eight sumps; the Central Zone had nine drainage pumping stations and two sumps; the West Zone had one storm-water and eight drainage pumping stations; the North West Zone had three and four respectively, along with four sumps; and the South West Zone had one storm-water and five drainage pumping stations and one sump.
The SRFDCL area had four drainage pumping stations. Across the city, the report listed 28 underpasses, of which one was closed because of rainwater accumulation and 27 were open to traffic.
Pump-based rainwater disposal arrangements were available at 27 of them. A total of 81 pumps and 61 cameras had been installed at underpasses.
In the West Zone, which has 17 underpasses, one was reported closed, while 49 pumps had been installed there.
The AMC said 42 storm-water pumping stations were operating under its SCADA system.
Between midnight on September 13 and midnight on September 14, these stations disposed of 386.70 million litres per day (MLD) of rainwater. In addition, the report said 725.56 MLD of rainwater, over and above sewage flow, had been disposed of through sewage pumping stations.
The Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Service had 942 buses in operation, including 306 buses on 14 routes for the convenience of residents. Sixteen buses were also made available for services to the airport.
The Health department has also undertaken preventive and relief measures in response to the heavy rain and monsoon conditions, with the stated objective of protecting public health and controlling water-borne and vector-borne diseases.
On September 12, around 1,269 chlorine tests were conducted to check water quality in different zones, while 15,166 chlorine tablets were distributed the same day. A total of 158 outpatient department consultations were recorded on September 13.
AMC said rainwater drainage networks around several lakes had contributed to the lakes filling up. It further reported that 42 storm-water pumping stations, together with 84 sumps in low-lying areas, were operating with a total of 245 pumps for rainwater disposal.
Another 261 pumps at 79 drainage pumping stations were being used for drainage and rainwater disposal.
The civic body said that heavy-duty vehicle-mounted dewatering pumps, including Varun pumps, as well as vehicle- or trailer-mounted Mazda pumps and trolley-mounted pumps, had been kept ready with technically experienced staff for immediate deployment in low-lying areas.
An Emergency Response Team has also been activated in every AMC ward. During periods of heavy rain, engineering teams are being deployed at identified waterlogging points to drain accumulated rainwater through catch pits, drains and machine holes.
AMC's storm-water pumping stations are connected to its SCADA system through the internet, allowing their operation and rainwater disposal to be monitored continuously online from the main monsoon control room at Paldi.
Cameras at city underpasses have similarly been connected through internet connectivity so that they can be monitored from the main control room.
The civic body said that high-capacity pumps had been installed at all underpasses and experienced staff equipped with walkie-talkies had been assigned there.
AMC has appealed to residents to contact the control room of their respective zone in the event of an emergency, waterlogging, a fallen tree, a sewerage or drainage problem or another civic-service issue during the monsoon, and to cooperate with the civic authorities in responding to such situations.