In AD 1927, there was terrible rain in Gujarat. The city of Ahmedabad received an average of 30 inches of rainfall throughout the year, but 68 inches of rain fell from July 23 to July 28 that year. This caused terrible floods in Ahmedabad and 5093 houses collapsed. Because of this many people died, many became homeless and thousands of people had to eat. Vallabhbhai was the President of Ahmedabad Municipality at that time.
He did a lot of service to the people in this hour of crisis. Water was flooded at many places, which was a big problem to remove. That is why the Sardar broke those drains in which they were blocked due to soil filling. Sardar threw away all the resources of the municipality, but the problems of the people were not overcome. On this Sardar Patel also called his elder Vithalbhai from Bombay to help him.
They also started serving the people by working day and night. Vallabhbhai appealed to the people of Gujarat to donate to help the people of Ahmedabad. An amount of one and a half lakh rupees was collected on this.
It was a huge amount, yet the tragedy was so great that it was no more than a cumin seed in a camel's mouth. There was a fear of an epidemic spreading in Ahmedabad if decisions were not taken swiftly and nothing else was done soon. Therefore Vithalbhai, using his influence, invited the Viceroy to visit Ahmedabad. The leaders of Bombay who were in contact with Vithalbhai also appealed to the Viceroy to visit Ahmedabad.
On this on 9 December 1927, the Viceroy Lord Irwin himself came to Ahmedabad. He made extensive tour of the flood affected areas and appreciated the work done by the municipality and Vallabhbhai. Vallabhbhai informed the Viceroy in detail about the problems of the people. Sardar Patel demanded that the government should build houses at its own expense for those people who are not in a position to get them rebuilt.
Viceroy Irwin agreed with all the things of Sardar Patel, so he returned by promising to send adequate assistance from the central government in this calamity. After reaching Delhi, he sent Rs 1 crore for the reconstruction of the demolished houses in Ahmedabad. Sardar Patel thanked the Central Government with a generous heart for this help.
The Ghori government respected Sardar Patel by calling him a true servant of humanity. The people of entire Gujarat expressed their gratitude towards Vallabhbhai by calling him poor Nawaz and messiah. In response, Sardar Patel said that I am not so stupid that I do not even understand that such a big task was not my own.