AMC commissioner pulls up officials over rising water, drainage complaints

In a stern review of civic services in Ahmedabad, Municipal Commissioner Banchhanidhi Pani came down heavily on officials over the rising number of water supply and drainage complaints across the city, particularly in the central, eastern and southern zones.

During a review meeting on Wednesday, the commissioner expressed strong displeasure over lack of coordination and accountability among zone officials.

Jurisdiction issues

The situation escalated when a complaint from the south zone triggered confusion, with Deputy Commissioner Bharat Parmar initially claiming the area did not fall under his jurisdiction. However, Additional City Engineer Himanshu Mehta clarified that the location did belong to the south zone.

Reacting sharply, the commissioner questioned the deputy commissioner’s awareness, stating that officials unaware of their own jurisdiction cannot effectively perform their duties. Similar criticism was directed at other zone officials, including central zone Deputy Commissioner Ramya Bhatt, who cited technical limitations in addressing complaints, and west zone Deputy Commissioner Amrutesh Aurangabadkar, who was reprimanded for not conducting regular field rounds or monitoring developments.

24-hour resolution

The commissioner also flagged delays in resolving complaints, including a drainage issue in Ramol-Hathijan, where inter-departmental confusion led to inaction. Officials later clarified that the issue was linked to ongoing microtunnelling work and had been resolved.

To streamline grievance redressal, the commissioner ordered the creation of a dedicated ‘war room’ to ensure all complaints related to water and drainage are addressed within 24 hours. He further instructed officials to stop passing files between departments for days and instead take prompt action to resolve public issues.

Other delays

Expressing concern over delays in infrastructure projects, the commissioner also criticised estate officials for citing lack of land availability for constructing a water tank in the south-west zone, remarking that land is quickly arranged for private projects but not for civic needs.

Additionally, all zone officials have been directed to conduct a comprehensive survey to identify areas requiring replacement of water and drainage pipelines and submit proposals for budget approval without delay.