Savalde village is situated around 5 km away from Shahada and around 1 km west from Maharashtra State Highway Number 1 on Shahada-Dhule road. It is situated just 1 km away from the official state border between Gujarat and Maharashtra. Many houses in this border village are built on a single mountain on the bank of river Tapti. Occupation of almost all the villagers is farming or related work. For important shopping, health treatment or higher education villagers go to Shahada or Prakasha which are easily accessible by bus, private vehicle or stopping any on route to Shahada passenger riksha on Highway. Fresh vegetables and milk in Shahada town comes from villages like Savalde. It is just 1 km away from the state border between Gujarat and Maharashtra and is slowly becoming an important point to enter Maharashtra from Gujarat.
Seismograph station
Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd has installed 9 seismograph stations around Sardar Sarovar Dam to monitor any seismic activity due to water in dam. These stations are AlirajpurBadwaniKooksi in Madhya Pradesh, SagbaraGhabanaJeetgarhKwantNaswadi in Gujarat and Shahada in Maharashtra. Out of these 9 seismograph stations around Sardar sarovar dam, only two seismograph stations, Shahada and Sagbara, are fully functional. Shahada is one of these 9 Seismograph Stations. As seismograph machines are installed away from ground vehicle traffic, seismograph machine is installed in the west direction of Savalde village, just outside the village. Seismograph station at Savalde was also worn out and was not in working condition until 10 November 2006 Savalde earthquake.
In the night of 10 November 2006, Savalde villagers reported to Shahada Police Station sounds coming from underground and ground vibrations. After verification, police vans alerted people in Shahada town and nearby villages to remain alert. Nothing happened in the night of 10 November. But in the afternoon of next day, tremors of magnitude 2.8 struck to Shahada tahsil region. No damage done to property or any life anywhere except cracks on the walls of few houses in Savalde village. Scientists from GSDA and MERI Nasik visited the Savalde village and concluded that underground sounds and tremors occurred because of pressure of weak lithosphereon air pockets in natural or human made cavities inside lithosphere. Due to heavy rain in August 2006, pressure over weak lithosphere mantle increased. Weak lithosphere mantle crashed in this cavity and hence on air inside cavity which caused underground sounds and tremors.
