Surat: Residents of around 40 housing societies in Parvat area have intensified their campaign against recurring creek floods, holding late-night meetings over the past week to chart their next course of action.In the meetings, the residents agreed to shell out Rs 100 per home as donation to run the movement. Organisers said the gatherings are aimed at building a coordinated, sustained movement as the monsoon repeatedly inundates homes and disrupts daily life.According to residents, multiple meetings have already taken place and more are scheduled in the coming days to educate affected families on the wider impact of flooding across both city and rural pockets. Community members said the intent is to explain how the problem affects lakhs of people and to expand participation beyond the immediately hit localities.The societies are also planning to collect funds from residents to organise protest events and related mobilisation activities. “We have already received around Rs 70,000 to continue the movement and people are ready to participate by all means to ensure that the floods stop,” said a resident of Madhav Baug.The latest mobilisation follows an earlier attempt to organise a motorcycle rally, which was called off after police denied permission. Residents alleged they were compelled to cancel the rally for unspecified reasons.After the cancellation, a delegation submitted a memorandum to the district collector and Surat Municipal Corporation seeking urgent intervention. Key demands include separating merged creeks, widening Mithi creek and removing encroachments that residents say have narrowed the natural channel. They also flagged alleged encroachments linked to a textile market and other establishments along the creek.In their earlier memorandum, residents claimed that rainfall of around four inches is enough to flood hundreds of homes. This year, they said, water entered residential areas up to eight feet, and three flooding incidents occurred within 22 days. For the past eight years, they added, flooding has become an annual occurrence, causing losses worth lakhs of rupees. Residents reported damage to refrigerators, televisions, washing machines, flour mills, electronics, furniture and several two-wheelers and four-wheelers, while local industries and businesses also suffered setbacks. Many families said they spent nights awake fearing another surge.
