Limbayat flooded again, most areas in waist-deep waters

Surat: It seems there is no escaping for the residents of Limbayat zone of Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) from the floods in the creeks. Two days after the flood waters receded, the Mithi and Bhedwad khadis swelled again due to the heavy rains in the catchment areas and the backing of the waters in the Midhola river in Navsari, inundating most of the areas in 2-3 feet waters on Friday.
Out of the five creeks, two passing from the Limbayat zone — Mithi khadi and Bhedwad khadi — swelled due to the heavy rains in the catchment areas of Surat and Tapi districts since Thursday. While the water level at Mithi khadi was 7.90 m, the Bhedwad creek was flowing at 8.20 m Friday.
The main road from Udhana to Sachin, connecting the state highway towards Navsari, was closed for vehicular traffic after the flood waters from Bhedwadi creek inundated the entire main road from Pandesara to Bhestan in three feet water.
The low-lying areas like Saraswati Vidhyalaya in Parvat Patiya, Bhestan, Pandesara and Limbayat were inundated in 2-3 feet water due to the swelling of the Mithi and Bhedwad creeks on Friday.
Official sources said that the flood situation in Limbayat zone, which includes areas of Parvat Patiya, Bhestan, Pandesara and Limbayat had become normal from the last two days with waters receding in the Mithi and Bhedwadi creeks.
The civic body had intensified cleaning exercise in the affected areas for removing muck and debris. However, the cleanliness work was halted with the creeks overflowed with fresh water from the catchment area and inundating the majority of the low-lying areas in 2-3 feet waters, said officials.
“Water levels in the creeks are receding with the rains taking a break in the catchment areas. However, the water from the creeks flows into the Midhola river in Navsari. Since there are heavy rains in Navsari and the Mindhola river has swelled, it is not accepting the water from the creeks,” said Bhairav Desai, executive engineer of Limbayat zone.
“We have placed dewatering pumps in the low-lying areas to clear the flood waters,” added Desai.
“People in Limbayat are facing difficulties due to floods in Mithi and Bhedwadi creeks for the last eight days. Still, there are many areas in Limbayat like Bethi colony, Kamrunnagar, Mithi Khadi where the flood waters entered again due to swelling of Mithi khadi. There are many slum settlements and EWS colonies where the stagnant water is yet to recede,” said Aslam Cyclewala, councillor from the Limbayat ward.