Ahmedabad recorded more than eight inches of rainfall through the day on 23 July 2026, with pockets like Bakrol logging over 14 inches, according to Gujarat Samachar. Eight underpasses, including Makarba, Mithakhali and Shahibaug, were shut to traffic, the BRTS was suspended at 18 stations, and school buses sat stranded for hours on the AEC Bridge. No deaths were reported. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s control room logged over a hundred waterlogging complaints in a single day.
Gujarat’s monsoon has been erratic all season, swinging between drought in Kutch and deluge in the south. Monday’s flooding stood out for where the water pooled. Bombay Samachar reported that roads in Vastrapur, Bopal, Gota and along SG Highway, some of the city’s newer and more expensive neighbourhoods rather than its old low-lying core, turned into what residents described as flowing rivers within two hours of the heaviest spell. The Sabarmati rose to around 129 feet, and the civic body opened six gates of the Vasna Barrage to bring levels down.
Why this keeps happening in the "posh" belts
Ahmedabad’s civic authorities have announced stormwater and drainage upgrades ahead of the rains for several monsoon seasons running, and this year was no exception. Monday’s flooding concentrated heavily in areas that are supposed to have newer infrastructure. That points to upgrades that either weren’t finished or weren’t sized for a day like this one. The gap between pre-monsoon press briefings and what happens when the rain lands hard is a recurring pattern in Gujarat’s fast-growing western suburbs, where development has often outpaced the drainage capacity built to serve it.
For residents, the practical toll is immediate: stalled cars, missed workdays, waterlogged ground floors in societies that weren’t flagged as flood-prone. Living in a newer part of the city does not guarantee better civic infrastructure. Waist-deep water on arterial roads like SG Highway also affects the wider metro economy, since the corridor carries much of the city’s office and retail traffic.
What to watch next
The AMC has forecast heavy to very heavy rain over the following 48 hours, so the drainage system will be tested again before any repair work can begin. The more durable question is whether the corporation publishes a clear accounting of which stormwater projects were actually completed before this monsoon and which remain on paper. Residents in the worst-hit wards have been asking for that accounting after each of the past several flood events.
Sources: Gujarat Samachar, Bombay Samachar
This report was compiled and written with AI assistance from publicly reported sources, and reviewed for accuracy.