Sabarmati

Children play with the onions rotting on the embankments which double as a wholesale market for vegetables in the evenings. The EIA, carried out to find the environmental fallout of the Sabarmati project, had suggested terraced or sloping embankments to spread the impact of the flood waters over a larger surface area(By Ravleen Kaur (Reporter, Down to Earth)Photographs by Meeta Ahlawat)

This sewer pipe opens directly into the Sabarmati. The project will connect the city’s sewerage to a trans sewer interceptor. The interceptor will run along the river to collect sewage from the city sewer lines opening into it and empty into a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) downstream. Work is still to begin on laying the pipes and building the STP(By Ravleen Kaur (Reporter, Down to Earth)Photographs by Meeta Ahlawat)

People living on the eastern bank of the Sabarmati use this 10-km stretch to dump garbage. The Sabarmati Riverfront Project promises to convert this stretch into an open space interspersed with residential and commercial complexes. But no alternative garbage dumping site has been identified by the project planners.No rehabilitation package has been announced either, for the soon-to-be displaced 30,000 families living in shanties on the river bank(By Ravleen Kaur (Reporter, Down to Earth)Photographs by Meeta Ahlawat)

Dredging is on in full swing under the Sabarmati Riverfront Development Project that aims to constrict the river to a uniform width of 275 km. This will be difficult as the Sabarmati is a monsoon river. It recently saw flash floods following a spate of erratic rainfall Highrises that house Ahmedabad’s financial complexes frame the skyline. More such complexes will come up in 10-15% of the land reclaimed under the project and help recover costs. The state government claims that this project will also enhance the city’s international image

The land has been levelled along this stretch and the tree line has been pushed further. The cleared away rubble, however, finds its way back into the river. Can the Sabarmati Riverfront Development Project undo this national tendency to treat rivers as drains or sites to dump waste?(By Ravleen Kaur (Reporter, Down to Earth)Photographs by Meeta Ahlawat)

The Sabarmati Project will involve raising a 28-ft retaining wall that will run parallel to the river. The adjoining land will be levelled and raised to the retaining wall’s height. This may hamper the natural drainage of the terrain which slopes towards the riverBy Ravleen Kaur (Reporter, Down to Earth)Photographs by Meeta Ahlawat)