The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, in its draft budget for 2021-22, has set aside Rs 1050 crore for the Sabarmati River Front Development phase 2, work on which is to begin soon.

Rs 1050 crore fund! See how rich even the Municipal Corporations in India are!

Sabarmati Riverfront Development Project

• The SRDP is an environmental improvement, social uplift and urban rejuvenation project that will renew Ahmedabad.
• The project is being developed by the Sabarmati Riverfront Development Corporation Ltd. (SRFDCL), a company wholly owned by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.
• The project will reclaim approximately 200 hectares of land from the riverbed.
• To reclaim the land, protect low lying developments from floods, and prevent erosion of the river banks, retaining walls have been built on both sides of the river.
• Since Sabarmati is a seasonal river, water is channelled into the river from the Narmada canal, which intersects the river upstream from Ahmedabad and is retained in the river using the Vasna Barrage which is located downstream.

Significance of the project

• The reclaimed land will make Ahmadabad’s riverfront, a public asset.
• The project will provide Ahmedabad with 11.5 km long pedestrian promenades at the water’s edge along both the banks of the river.
• In addition, many new public facilities will be built on the reclaimed land: cultural centres, museums, sports facilities, trade fair grounds and open-air markets.
• A small portion of the reclaimed land will be sold for private commercial and residential developments.
• The project has won Prime Minister’s National Award for Excellence in Urban Planning and Design in the year of 2003.

Also, revise the concept of Water Divide from your NCERTS or refer to this link: https://www.ncert.nic.in/ncerts/l/iess103.pdf

Back2Basics: Sabarmati River

• Sabarmati is one of the major west-flowing rivers in India. Being a rain-fed river it runs dry most of the year.
• It originates in the Aravalli Range of the Udaipur District of Rajasthan and meets the Gulf of Khambhat of the Arabian Sea after travelling 371 km in a south-westerly direction across Rajasthan and Gujarat.
• 48 km of the river length is in Rajasthan, while 323 km is in Gujarat.
• There are several reservoirs on Sabarmati and its tributaries. The Dharoi dam is located on the main river. Hathmati dam, Harnav dam and Guhai dam are located on the tributaries.

Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

Attend Now