Demand for Khari riverfront in Mehsana, MMC starts preparing project report

The state government took the initiative after Rajya Sabha MP Mayank Nayak, who is from Mehsana, wrote to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel with a demand to develop a riverfront on the Khari river like the one in Ahmedabad.
Nayak had written to the state government in July.

In his letter to the CM, while demanding the development of a riverfront on Khari river passing through Mehsana city, Nayak stated that the development of the riverfront could resolve the issues of ground water recharge and vehicular traffic in the city.

He also urged the government to give priority to the project specially when Gujarat is celebrating 2025 as Urban Development Year.

Requesting anonymity, a top official of Mehsana Municipal Corporation said that as the demand for riverfront was raised, the state government has asked the MMC authorities to first prepare a project report and send it to them.

“The government has asked for the draft project report around a month back. We have started the work and will send the report to the state government in another one months’ time. After submission of the report, if the government finds it proper then it may give an in-principle approval to the project,” said the officer.

“We have started preparing the project report. We are preparing it in-house. If required, we will take help from CEPT University or some subject matter expert from the state government…” the officer added.

According to the MMC officer, if approved by the state government, the project will be long term and an ambitious one and its primary focus areas would be availability of water and rejuvenating the Khari, a seasonal river.

MMC is one of the nine newly formed municipal corporations of Gujarat and it is set to go for its first elections by January-February next year. The MMC has 13 wards.

In January, the Gujarat government announced to form nine new municipal corporations in the state taking the number of such urban bodies to 17.

It must be noted that Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel had, in October last year, stated while addressing a public gathering that riverfronts should be developed only at places where water is available all 12 months of the year.