Surat: Life in the city famed for its seamless flyovers was came to a grinding halt on Monday, as nearly nine inches of relentless rainfall in just 10 hours triggered widespread waterlogging, flooding homes, shops, basements, and even textile markets, since 6am.Of the total 242mm of rainfall, 135mm pounded in just two hours from 8am to 10am.Roads dug up for Metro Rail and other civic infrastructure works worsened the situation as residents struggled to navigate submerged pathways. With the road surface completely invisible for hours, motorists stood stranded, fearing the deadly risk of falling into open excavations. In Kapodra, a viral video showing rainwater gushing into a massive Metro construction pit only deepened the anxiety. In the Yogi Chowk area, basement parking lots were flooded, submerging several vehicles. Similar scenes were witnessed on Ring Road and Kadodara Road, where rainwater entered textile markets. In areas like Surat railway station, parked vehicles were completely submerged as water levels swelled to above five foot at certain locations. The Surat Fire and Emergency Services teams rescued 115 people from submerged vehicles and waterlogged areas, relocating them to safer locations.

Rescue operations were launched near the railway underpass and the textile market, where people got trapped in a bus and a truck after the drivers attempted to navigate waterlogged stretches.S

tate transport services were severely disrupted due to waterlogging around the central bus station, and multiple railway underpasses were rendered impassable. As a result, some 200 ST bus trips were cancelled on Monday.Waterlogging was widespread, affecting both the old city and newly developed areas, where the stormwater drainage system failed to handle the heavy downpour. Even in walled city areas, where flooding is a rarity, several roads were blocked. In Pal and Palanpur, where a stormwater network was recently laid, water remained stagnant till late evening. In Pal, the compound wall of an apartment collapsed into a nearby construction site due to the saturation of surrounding soil.A section of National Highway 48 near Kamrej was also blocked, affecting traffic movement in and out of the city.A total of 1,908 sanitation workers were deployed across the city for clean-up operations.