AHMEDABAD, DEC 25
The standing committee of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has approved different works worth Rs 235 crore for the Gandhi Ashram Precinct Development project, an official said Friday.
The Gandhi Ashram, located in Ahmedabad city, is also known as Sabarmati Ashram.
The AMC’s standing committee on Thursday granted permission for the works, which includes construction of roads, drainage networks and filling of land, the official said. To make way for the development works, the civic body has started demolishing the structures that are coming in the way of the project, he said.
આજે સ્ટેન્ડિંગ કમિટીમાં,
રૂ.૨૩૫ કરોડના ખર્ચે ગાંધી આશ્રમ અને ગાંધી આશ્રમ Precinct ડેવલોપમેન્ટ પ્રોજેક્ટ અંતર્ગત રીપોઝિટરી વર્ક
— Amdavad Municipal Corporation (@AmdavadAMC) December 23, 2021
The Rs 1,200 crore-worth Gandhi Ashram Memorial and Precinct Development Project, has been jointly undertaken by the state and central government by developing the Ashram, where Mahatma Gandhi lived from 1917 to 1930. The project would be developed over an area of 55 acres from the existing five acres by bringing together heritage buildings and restoring the surrounding.
On Thursday, the AMC started razing buildings – over a dozen residential units – near the Ashram. The demolition has been taken up after the families residing there accepted compensation offered by the government for their relocation. Many of the residents are descendants of the people who came to settle here along with Mahatma Gandhi.
For the project, the government has formed a committee to relocate over 200 families, who have been living on the land owned by six different trusts that are part of the original Sabarmati Ashram. The families have been provided with a one-time settlement in the form of money to buy a house or have been provided with new houses elsewhere.
But the AMC’s plan to demolish a slum located on the trust premises without any compensation or rehabilitation, prompted the dwellers to move the Gujarat High Court. The slum dwellers claimed that they have been living there for the last almost 15-20 years, and have the protection of their slums and livelihood and compensation under the Regulations for the Rehabilitation & Redevelopment of the Slums, 2010. The matter is sub judice.
The project has also faced resistance from the Gandhians, who assert that the government’s plan to develop the area into a world-class memorial is not acceptable to them. They have openly rejected the proposal, saying that this is against Gandhi’s ideas.
