Summary:
Months before 20 inches of rain battered Vadodara, a group of concerned citizens had warned about the ravines close to the Vishwamitri river being reclaimed and debris being dumped, thereby effectively filling them up. "The ravines and wetlands of River Vishwamitri are being systematically destroyed and filled with debris and municipal solid waste in order to reclaim land for further development," the letter had warned. The ravines and wetlands have either been reclaimed or turned into a dump yard of municipal and building wastes. They usually work as natural sponges that soak up water; since we filled them up, the city was flooded," said Prajapati. There was no flooding what happened was waterlogging because we have ruined the natural drainage system," said Gavali..