For these villagers of Waghodia taluka, it was an eerily familiar scene that they apprehend will be repeated yet again if officials continue to ignore their pleas to build a concrete wall in place of the bank.

``We seem to be caught between the devil and deep sea, between the Ajwa pond on one side and our own village pond on the other. None of the 4,000 villagers know whose house will be flooded in the monsoon'', says sarpanch Dayabhai Parmar. ``At least when they divert water from the Ajwa pond, we're forewarned. There seems to be some sort of a curse on our pond for the past five years'', adds his deputy Dalpat Desai Vasava.

Several dozens of small animals like goats, calves and chickens in the low-lying localities of the Rathodias are said to have been washed away by the avoidable flooding in the past.

According to an affected landlord, haphazard development on the Vadodara-Ajwa Main Road was responsible for the annual calamity. Since there was no vegetation in these areas, the rain water could drain straight into the pond, causing it to overflow, he claims, adding that the pond also needed to de-silting.

Ironically, Savitaben Srivastava, wife of MLA Madhu Srivastava and district panchayat member, though aware of the problem, maintains she is unable to do anything. ``I am new to the post. But I know the panchayat has had a cost estimate for a concrete wall around the pond for a long time now'', she says, promising to expedite the project.

District Development Officer Anju Sharma says construction of the wall is already on ``her priority list''. ``Since I have recently joined, I did not have time to take it up, but I do so immediately after the rains'', she says.