The State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) has granted clearance (EC) to the proposed environmental Aji riverfront development project, said Rajkot Mayor Pradip Dav Monday, adding the work for the first phase will commence soon.
“The decision to grant the EC was taken at a meeting on January 20 and was granted on February 17. We have received a copy of the EC,” Dav told The Indian Expressadding, “This allows us to start the actual work of the project.”
Confirming the development, Rajkot municipal commissioner Amit Arora said, a copy of the EC was “sent on WhatsApp”.
The EC marks a significant milestone for the mega-infrastructure project that the Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) first proposed in 2013. RMC’s initial attempt to get the clearance had proved abortive as it did not own the river stretch proposed to be developed. The project made some progress after the state government transferred the ownership of the 11-km-long stretch to the RMC in 2018 and the civic body applied for EC afresh.
Following this, the State-level Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) had framed terms of reference for environmental impact assessment (EIA). After RMC submitted the EIA, SEAC had, on December 12, 2021, recommended SEIAA to grant EC to the Rs 1,181-crore project.
SEIAA and SEAC are state-level bodies constituted by the Central Government and authorized to look into and grant EC applications for major infrastructure projects. “Now that we have got EC, we shall be able to float tenders for civil work. We shall execute the project in phases. In the first phase, we propose to develop around a 1.25-kilometre-long stretch beginning from Champakbhai Vora Bridge near Ramnath temple to downstream Kesr-e-Hind Bridge,” the mayor told The Indian Express.
The first phase, Dav added, will cost around Rs 165 crore. He expressed hope that the state government would provide the required funds. “We propose to redevelop Ramnath Mahadev temple as well as develop gardens, parking lots and retaining walls as part of the project. I had made a presentation before Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel around 15 days ago and he sounded positive. While we have set aside Rs 10 crore for Ramnath temple development in the RMC budget 2022-23, the riverfront project will materialize only if the state helps financially. We are hopeful that the state government will provide the funds,” said the mayor.
The plan is to develop the riverfront from Aji river bridge on NH-27 downstream Aji Dam in the south-eastern part of the city to Aji river bridge of 150 Feet Ring Road (also called Morbi Bypass Road) in the northeastern part.
However, more than 4,000 unauthorized dwelling units along the bank of this stretch of the river could become pain points. Further, the work of laying sewer interceptor lines along the eastern and western banks of the river is yet to be completed.
“On the eastern bank, a sewer arrester line has been laid in almost 70 per cent of the project area, including under the railway bridge near Kesar-e-Hind bridge. The rest is pending as the area is encroached. But little work has been done on the western bank as the private contractor was black-listed after being awarded tender,” said a source.
Paresh Adhia, RMC’s city engineer looking into the riverfront development project, said EC will give the much-needed momentum for the project. “We shall start encroachment removal and then will go for laying sewer arrester lines. That work and construction of the retaining wall can be undertaken simultaneously,” said Adhia, adding, “HCP Design, Planning and Management Pvt Limited, an Ahmedabad-based firm that has been engaged as project management consultant, will now prepare the final master plan of the project.”
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