Delhi looks to Sabarmati project for tips to save Yamuna

The visit is said to be a result of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with Jung last week, during which Modi had suggested that Delhi follow the Sabarmati example.

“The team is on a tour to the study the Sabarmati riverfront project and find possibilities to replicate it for the Yamuna. The report is to be submitted to the Lt-Governor,” CEO of Delhi Parks and Garden Society and team member Dr S  D Singh said.
The team includes heads and members of Delhi’s various departments — CEO of Delhi Jal Board Vijay Kumar, DU professor C R Babu, DDA landscape expert Savita Bhandari and members of Tourism and Flood Control departments.

The team reached Ahmedabad on Thursday morning and started the day with a visit to the gardens on the riverfront, which were developed at a cost of Rs 18 crore and inaugurated in October last year by BJP leader  L K Advani. The team also studied the transformation of reclaimed land into parks.

The team was then given a presentation of the Rs 1,250-crore riverfront project at the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) in Danapith. It was presented by Sabarmati Riverfront Development Corporation Limited.

“The team members showed a lot of interest in the details. Apart from the documented information, they tried to note down details,” an AMC official accompanying the Delhi team said.  AMC commissioner Guruprasad Mohapatra said, “The team members had queries about resettlement and rehabilitation of slums in the area. They wanted to know how slums on the riverfront were rehabilitated and also about various court cases related to the same.”  On Friday, the team will visit dhobhi ghat and gujari bazaar at Sabarmati riverfront.