The Floods

Floods have been associated with the Baroda city for centuries. In fact, it was also the reason because why the ancient settlement of “Ankotaka” moved to the safety of higher grounds of “Vatapatraka”(the small settlements which were the roots of present day Baroda).

Ghoda Pur :

Although, there have been many floods in the city, like the one in 1878 with 77 inches of rain, or the 1917 floods with 69 inches of rain, the most lethal one came in the year 1927 with about 90 inches of rain. The flood of the year 1927 was so damaging that a novel was written on it the year 1937.

In the ending of July, 1927, Baroda witnessed the highest recorded levels of rain, about 90 inches as opposed to the normal annual rain of 30 inches. It poured constantly for four days resulting in the levels of Vishwamitri river rising so high that its water touched the feet of the Kala Ghoda statue. And since it touched the feet of horse of the statue, it came to be known as ઘોડા પૂર (horse flood) in Gujarati.

The flood disrupted services such as the railways and power supply and submerged the ground floor of many houses as well as the General Hospital in water. A lot of damage was also sustained by the Sayaji Baug Zoo as the animals drowned and died in their cages.

Although the other services got disrupted, the authorities decided carry on the postal services using elephants, which played an important part in the flood of year 1941 as well. Many residents came up for the help of people who were stuck in their own houses during the floods and supplied food and drinking water to them.

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Vadodara has suffered due to floods in the years 1941, 1970, 1974, 1976, 1994, 1996 and 2005. Although the city is now well maintained with good drainage systems and various canals, it still faces the problem of flood and water logging some times.

Partial Source: India Together