The proposed Shela-Sanathal drainage project is intended to address recurring rainwater logging in one of the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority’s fastest-growing areas by using Sanathal lake as part of a wider stormwater storage and drainage system. The plan, reported by Nav Gujarat Samay – Ahmedabad, would connect the lake to the Kolat drain and is estimated to cost ₹50 crore.
The proposal follows severe waterlogging across Ahmedabad city and AUDA-administered areas during heavy rain in July and August. According to the report, the flooding generated public anger and led to a public hearing involving residents, while senior-level attention was drawn to the performance of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and AUDA officials. The report attributes the project details to AUDA sources and does not provide a publicly reproduced government notification, tender document or final execution schedule.
That distinction matters because the proposal is not simply a local drainage repair. It reflects a shift towards treating rainwater as a catchment-wide urban infrastructure problem. Instead of moving water out of Shela and Sanathal through isolated drains, the proposed approach would retain and manage it through a lake linked to an existing drainage channel. The success of that model would depend on the relationship between the lake, the drain, surrounding catchments and the network of roads and built-up areas that now generate runoff.
### Peripheral growth and a changing drainage landscape
Shela and Sanathal have seen rapid development over recent years, according to the report. New housing and other urban activity have expanded into areas where natural drainage and water-storage systems once had greater capacity to absorb or convey rainwater. The report says that irregular weather and intense rainfall have increased pressure on these natural arrangements.
Urban expansion changes the movement of water in several ways. Construction replaces permeable ground with roofs, paved compounds and roads. Water that might previously have entered the soil or moved slowly through local depressions reaches drains faster and in larger volumes. If the receiving lake, channel or outfall has insufficient capacity, even a short period of intense rainfall can produce widespread waterlogging.
The report frames the proposed Sanathal intervention as a long-term project based on the catchment area rather than a short-term effort to remove water from individual streets. That is an important institutional change in approach. Localised pumping, desilting or road-level repairs may address symptoms at particular locations, but a catchment-based system requires authorities to examine where water originates, how it travels and where it can safely be stored or discharged.
The available report does not establish the current storage capacity of Sanathal lake, the design capacity of the Kolat drain, the exact catchment boundary or the number of properties and roads expected to benefit. It also does not state whether detailed hydrological studies, land surveys or environmental assessments have been completed. Those details will be necessary to assess whether the proposed infrastructure can manage the rainfall conditions that have overwhelmed the area.
### What the proposed lake project includes
Under the reported plan, Sanathal lake would be deepened to increase its ability to store rainwater. The project is also expected to support groundwater recharge, while water collected from the Shela-Sanathal area would be directed into the lake and connected to the Kolat drain. The stated objective is to reduce waterlogging and preserve the collected water as a resource.
The proposed use of a lake for temporary storage gives the project a dual infrastructure function. It is intended to act as a flood-management asset during heavy rainfall and as a water resource after the rain. However, the source material does not specify the lake’s present condition, the proposed additional storage volume, the depth of excavation or how silt, pollution and maintenance would be managed.
The project is reportedly being planned under a grant framework associated with the central government’s National Disaster Management arrangements. AUDA sources cited in the report said the authority would seek ₹50 crore for the Sanathal lake project. The report does not identify the specific grant approval, sanction order, funding release or implementing agency, so the proposed amount should be understood as a reported project estimate rather than confirmed expenditure.
The wider plan would involve seven lakes between Kaneti and Telav under an interlinking project. These lakes would also be deepened to increase water storage, with another reported allocation of ₹50 crore. Together, the two proposals would seek a total of ₹100 crore from the central government for rainwater management in AUDA areas.
Interlinking multiple lakes could provide a larger network for storing and moving stormwater, but it also increases the need for coordinated operation. Each lake, connecting channel and downstream outlet would affect the performance of the others. The source material does not provide the proposed sequence of links, hydraulic design, land requirements or operating protocol. Without those details, the public record currently establishes the scale and stated intent of the proposal more clearly than its technical design.
### The governance problem behind the flooding
The Shela-Sanathal case also exposes the administrative complexity of Ahmedabad’s urban edge. The report refers to both Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and AUDA, which have different areas of responsibility and operate across a metropolitan region where roads, drainage, lakes and new development may not be managed through a single local system.
For residents, that division can make accountability difficult. A flooded road may involve a municipal road department, an AUDA drainage asset, a private development, an encroached natural channel or a lake whose capacity has reduced over time. The report says AUDA is preparing to introduce its own Comprehensive Complaint and Redressal System because residents often do not know where to report complaints related to roads, water supply, sewage and rainwater drainage.
The planned AUDA complaint system is expected to include a control room, interactive voice response, web portal, mobile application, WhatsApp chatbot and SMS facility. A single access system could help residents register complaints and create a record of response times and unresolved locations. Its value, however, will depend on whether complaints are assigned to the correct authority, tracked until closure and linked to recurring infrastructure failures rather than treated as isolated service requests.
AUDA is also reported to be developing a Field Track mobile application and web-based management portal to monitor its projects. The proposed system would include project progress, site inspections, GPS-based attendance and administrative oversight on a digital platform. This could make implementation more visible, but the supplied report does not say whether project data will be made public or whether residents will be able to see deadlines, contractor performance and inspection findings.
### The evidence gap before implementation
The reported ₹100 crore programme shows that waterlogging has become a regional planning concern rather than a problem confined to individual neighbourhoods. Yet the available information leaves several implementation questions unanswered. There is no stated construction timeline for the Sanathal project, no announced tender deadline, no identified contractor and no confirmed date for the proposed complaint system.
There is also no information in the report about how the project will account for future construction in the catchment. A lake-and-drain system can lose effectiveness if surrounding development continues to block natural flow paths or if new paved surfaces are added without corresponding detention and drainage capacity. The report identifies rapid urbanisation as a source of pressure, but it does not state whether AUDA will change development controls or require additional on-site rainwater management.
The distinction between a project announcement and an operational flood-management system will therefore be important. Deepening a lake may create additional storage, but it cannot by itself resolve flooding if inflows, connecting drains and downstream discharge points remain undersized or obstructed. Similarly, a complaint platform can improve visibility without necessarily improving physical capacity.
For citizens in Shela, Sanathal and nearby AUDA areas, the immediate public-interest question is not only whether ₹50 crore is sanctioned. It is whether the authority can demonstrate the catchment study, storage calculations, connection design, land status, maintenance plan and delivery schedule behind the proposal. Those documents would allow residents to judge how the scheme is expected to perform during intense rainfall.
The proposed project nevertheless marks a significant acknowledgement by AUDA that recurring urban flooding cannot be managed solely through emergency response. The authority is reported to be pursuing lake storage, drainage connections, interlinked water bodies, a complaint mechanism and digital project monitoring as part of a broader response. The next decisive steps will be the publication of the technical design, funding approval, tender details and implementation timetable. Until then, the proposal establishes a direction for stormwater management, while its actual ability to protect Shela and Sanathal will remain dependent on execution and coordination across the urban system.
