Sabarmati riverfront: ‘Second phase to be completed next year’

SRFDCL,the special purpose vehicle formed to implement the project,will sell plots only after November this year when the state government comes up with the new policy and development control regulations,Gautam later told reporters.

He said the plots carved on the riverbank would be sold for commercial use to recover part of the cost incurred on the project. The FSI enhancement would vary from plot to plot so that there is no monotony in the skyline of the ambitious project. Part of the proceeds will be meant to compensate for money spent on the development of the plot,he added.

A senior official in the company said the dispute raised over alternative accommodation to displaced families had caused delay in the implementation.

The AMC has,meanwhile,decided to award the work of Vadaj-Dudheshwar river bridge to the existing contractor after allowing cost overrun as demanded.

With work on the stalled bridge project thus resuming,it will take another eight months for completion.

Gautam said the work of lifting the Gandhi Bridge through special technology in consultation with the Chennai-based Structural Engineering Research Centre will also be taken up as part of the riverfront project.

Until the Wadaj-Dudheshwar bridge work is completed,traffic on the Gandhi Bridge will continue,he said.