After the deluge, SMC blames Metro project

Surat: With various parts of the city witnessing flooding and waterlogging for several days after the first spell of heavy rain, the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) realized that the soil and construction waste was not being disposed of properly. At a meeting on Monday, officials of the Metro project were directed to dispose of debris and soil properly so that it does not obstruct rainwater drainage.

The officials were also instructed to clean stormwater drains and repair them. Metro officials were further instructed to remove unnecessary barricades and repair roads that have been damaged due to metro development work.

Officials of the SMC and Metro project were instructed to take up joint site visits. Officials were instructed to carry out such work on priority basis, within 15 days. The meeting was attended by city mayor Daxesh Mavani and Shalini Agarwal, the municipal commissioner. SMC department heads, zonal heads and senior Metro officials were present at the meeting.

SMC officials were instructed to plan and execute pre-monsoon activity well in advance. However, actions were not taken to ensure that construction waste and soil from Metro sites that were kept in the open were removed.

"Our teams have been working round-the-clock before the monsoon began but the waste generation is continuous process. The building waste and soil gets collected daily and that is suspected to have led to the blocking of stormwater drains at a few locations," Agarwal said.

Despite floods every year, the SMC failed to act this year as well, to ensure that the creeks do not cause floods again. In some other parts, SMC officials claimed that soil kept in the open at Metro development sites had blocked stormwater drains.

Over 10 lakh people were affected due to the recent flooding in the city. Diamond and textile businesses were also badly affected by the flood. There was flooding in various parts of the city on June 23, which continued due to overflowing creeks and waterlogging in some other places.

Apart from damage to household products, furniture and vehicles, people could not go to schools, colleges or work for almost three days.