
Ahmedabad: Amdavadis woke up to chaos on Thursday after a few hours of rain turned large parts of the city into waterlogged zones. A sudden downpour from 2am to 5am left 105 locations submerged, five underpasses closed, and triggered claims of a death caused by ambulance delays. Despite crores being spent on monsoon prep, the city’s roads, drains, and infrastructure gave way.The rain began late on Wednesday with passing showers, but it was the cloudburst at 2am on Thursday that caused widespread disruption.Heavy rain with thunderstorms turned streets into streams in minutes. The city received three inches of rain between 2am and 5am. Rain gauges recorded the highest downpour at Ramol, which clocked 95mm by 4am, according to Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation data. In contrast, Vatva, Maktampura, and Bopal showed barely 1mm, which officials suspect could be due to technical errors.The five affected underpasses — Akhbarnagar, Mithakhali, Parimal, Makarba, and D-Cabin — remained closed for two to 10 hours. Traffic on SG Highway, the 132-ft Ring Road and other roads crawled through submerged stretches. By 6pm, water had yet to be cleared from 20 locations, with Madhumalti Apartments in Kathwada among the worst-hit as water, allegedly, entered homes there.Meanwhile, a video from Kathwada went viral on Thursday, showing residents placing a patient on a loading cycle rickshaw after an ambulance failed to reach the apartment complex through the flooded street. The man reportedly died before receiving care. Locals blamed the waterlogging for the delay.Elsewhere, heavy rain wreaked havoc on infrastructure. Roads caved in, including one stretch from Vatva GIDC to the Ring Road. A large sinkhole also opened near Paldi Char Rasta, further alarming residents.
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