Ahmedabad: At Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s (AMC) general body meeting on Monday, Opposition leader Shehzad Khan Pathan accused the civic body of altering the design, direction and defect liability on eight bridges in the city. He said, “Flyovers, railway overbridges, or underpasses built by AMC in the past decade have not been completed within stipulated timelines. In most cases, design was altered after work started, leading to significant cost overruns and project delays.”Pathan said, “The CRRI-CSIR report suggested a four-lane flyover at the Income Tax junction, but AMC built a five-lane one. In 2013, the Ranip-GST crossing flyover was delayed. The flyover’s descent was on 5,000sq m railway land, for which it was decided to compensate railways with land. After approving a flyover at Ajit Mill junction, the design was changed due to a main water trunk line passing underneath. The CRRI-CSIR report did not suggest a flyover at the Naranpura Pallav junction. An underpass was to be built there, but AMC built a flyover. An expenditure of Rs 18 to 20 crore was incurred to place overhead power lines underground.” Citing the report commissioned by the central govt’s CRRI-CSIR institution in 2011-12, Pathan said a split flyover with two lanes each, totalling four lanes, was suggested over a 120ft road from Vijay Crossroads to Nehru Nagar road via Gujarat University at the Navrangpura Panjarapol junction. However, a new report was obtained from IITRAM, and it was decided to construct a flyover on the road from Government Polytechnic College to IIM at the Panjarapol junction. On March 4, 2024, chief minister Bhupendra Patel inaugurated the Jalaram underpass in Paldi, but it was closed to the public within hours of being opened. It was inaugurated despite being incomplete. Initially pegged at Rs 45 crore, its cost escalated to Rs 83 crore, Pathan told the meeting.He further said that on April 13, 2023, the standing committee approved the proposal for a flyover at Sattadhar Junction at a cost of Rs 81.49 crore with amendments. The committee initially set the defect liability at five years, which was later reduced to three years under pressure from the contractor, he alleged. The Hatkeshwar flyover bridge, set to be demolished after being unused for 1,000 days, is a symbol of corruption, Pathan said.He said, “Even after the CRRI-CSIR report, the direction of the flyovers was changed, and design alterations were made.” To this, deputy mayor Jatin Patel responded, “There is no connection between the CRRI-CSIR report and the bridge design.” There was a heated exchange between the opposition leader and the deputy mayor over the report issue.
