Mirage of a river

It is claimed to be an exemplary project. It has won two awards for excellence in innovativeness and urban planning; one from the Prime Minister’s Office. Narendra Modi, the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Gujarat, recently hailed it as his big achievement. He pitted the restoration of the river Sabarmati in Ahmedabad against the poor record of the Delhi government in looking after the Yamuna, the capital’s lifeline river. The media has showered praise on the project. Claims apart, what are the facts on the ground?

Losing touch

Sabarmati embankment project ignores warnings, precedents Construction of an embankment along the 10-km stretch of the Sabarmati has begun in Ahmedabad despite warnings that it may hamper natural drainage in the city and that its design is inherently flawed.

Ahmedabad's mega project for industrial effluents

on january 11, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation approved a mega pipeline project to dump the city's industrial effluents in the Arabian Sea. Corporation authorities claim the multi-crore project will protect the Sabarmati river from further pollution.

CETP employee in Gujarat sacked for exposing illegal discharge channels

Vishnubhai Patel was an operator-cum-fitter with Green Environment Services Co-operative Society Ltd. He claims he was sacked in August 2006, a little over a year after exposing the society's fraudulent effluent treatment practices. Society officials, however, say he was relieved off his duties because he stole imported machine parts worth Rs 9,000.

Concerns over Sabarmati Riverfront Development Project

construction on Gujarat's ambitious Sabarmati Riverfront Development Project in Ahmedabad, restarted in the second week of March, 2007. The project had been stalled since August 2006, when heavy floods inundated the city.

We want to listen

Book review: Deep and detailed

Indian Estuaries S Z Qasim Allied Publishers Pvt Limited, Delhi p420

Running out

LONG BEFORE Indians run out of land or air, they will run out of water -- unless, of course, they learn to make judicious use of this precious resource. The Mayurakshi river basin in West Bengal and the Sabarmati basin in Gujarat represent some of the serious problems water resource managers face.