Decision for Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation's TP Scheme-20: EWS Housing and Urban Forest plots for Riverfront Phase-3 in Koba will now be used for amusement

After Ahmedabad, under Phase-3, there is now a plan to extend the riverfront to Koba on the banks of the Sabarmati river in Gandhinagar. The Town Planning Committee of the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation has formally approved the proposal to make necessary amendments to the TP Scheme-20 for the project. However, it would not be surprising if the decision becomes a centre of controversy for the poor and the environment, as preparations are now being intensified to build a food plaza and amusement park in the urban forest, which is a natural lung, the purpose of the housing plots reserved for the economically weaker sections. Transit spaces to be created in EWS habitat and urban forest space The Town Planning Committee of the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation (CMC) has officially approved the proposal to make necessary amendments in the TP Scheme-20 to extend the riverfront up to Koba under Phase 3. Under this new plan, the alignment of the roads of the riverfront has been changed, with emphasis on increasing social infrastructure by planning a 12-metre road instead of the 18-metre road. Recreation and promenades will be developed by repurposed plots specifically reserved for EWS housing and urban forests. Approved without proper measurement The sword of displacement has been hanging over the heads of the people living there for years due to the changes made in the alignment of the road by the municipal corporation. It is feared that the attempt to create narrow lanes by planning a 12-metre road instead of an 18-metre road will add to the traffic problem. Even though the system itself is admitting that there is an anomaly in the limits of the TP Scheme-20, approvals have been given in a hurry without proper measurement. Setting up of private facilities on government lands In this model of development in the capital, instead of the needs of the common man, only entertainment and commercialization are being given importance. Under the claim of increasing open spaces, the practice of setting up private facilities on government lands has actually begun. It is also feared that the damage caused to the natural flow of the Sabarmati River and its surrounding ecosystem by the construction of cycle tracks and cement concrete skyscrapers will be irreparable in the future.