Project takes on old-city blues

As a member of the town planning committee put it, there was nothing very new about the plans per se; what was new is the fillip the project hopes to impart to their execution.

The self-financed project will cover the areas within the old fort and those around it ringed by the road touching Gandhi Bridge, Kalupur, Astodia, Jamalpur, and Sardar Bridge. The project hopes to improve public transport, traffic management, historic resources, land development and development regulation, open spaces, water supply, sewerage, storm water drainage, electricity, telephones, solid waste management, and fire services. Besides, the project tries to bring together various departments so that they can work together, rather than individually.

Why was this grand scheme — conceived in August 1997 and prepared with help from the Environment Planning Co-operative and USAID — delayed at all?

While the town planning committee member blamed it on lack of co-operation between the elected and administrative wings of the corporation, municipal commissioner B.K. Sinha disagreed.

It was a matter of working out the priorities in the various elements of the project, he said, adding that there were some difficulties in the financial tie-ups involved. Sinha also said the project was never dropped by AMC.

The Rs 155 crore project seeks no expense on part of AMC. Instead, it plans to generate money for the improvement of the inner city.

Here’s an example of what the project hopes to do. Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Service (AMTS) has three bus terminuses in the walled city area: Lal Darwaja, Kalupur, and Sarangpur. AMTS buses touch these terminuses some 10,000 times a day. The project suggests that about half the buses touching the main Lal Darwaja terminus could terminate at Astodia and Hajipuar, where small bus terminuses can come up. This will be paid for by developing the upper floors of the building as business offices.

Other suggestions are that the Kalupur terminus should be merged with the Sarangpur terminus, and that several bus routes could be changed so that fewer buses pass through the walled city. This will also save AMTS Rs 1.31 crore.

Another problem addressed is the sluggish traffic in the inner city. During peak hours, vehicle speed never go beyond 15 kmph. Laying ring roads around the walled city, which will mean fewer vehicles inside it, could change this, the project suggests. Another suggestion is that the stretch from Bhadra to Fernandes Bridge, and some areas of Manek Chowk are restricted to pedestrians.

The project wants to tackle water supply by modifying or even replacing the existing network of pipes, which are over 80 years old and have been the cause of several outbreaks of jaundice. Besides water supply should be separated zone-wise, the project suggests. For the disposal of solid waste, the corporation should install sponsored litter bins and encourage door-to-door collection.