Speculations of sluggish operations in the Amdavad Municipal Corporation’s (AMC) road and building department have reached alarming levels as the recently inaugurated Paldi Jalaram Mandir or Dhirubhai Shah underpass has already sparked controversy due to its budget escalation, which spiked from the estimated ₹43 cr to a whopping ₹83 cr.

On top of this, the contractor sought a three-year extension beyond the original completion deadline of 2021.

The department appointed former retired official Hitesh Contractor as the city engineer; however, he was relieved of his duties following the Hatkeshwar Bridge controversy.

Flaws in its nature and nomenclature

The underpass, constructed as a combined project of the Gujarat Metro Rail Corporation (GMRC), AMC, and Western Railways, poses several issues, including having a double slope instead of the intended one, leading to imminent waterlogging during monsoons.

Reports state that after its inauguration on Mar 4, the underpass was forced to close after a day’s operations over design flaws in its entry-exit points.

The redesign of the points may reportedly take at least 15 days, further extending the commuters’ woes.

This project has been embroiled in controversy since its initial planning as well.

Initially, the then-standing committee proposed to name the Parimal Garden underpass ‘Dhirubhai Shah underpass’ after the former assembly speaker. However, this was an oversight by the department, as this underpass was already named ‘Bhagini Nivedita underpass’.

Following this, the committee decided to give this name to the Jalaram Mandir underpass.

Ahmedabad’s monsoon menace

Ahmedabad’s monsoon floods underpasses like Kochrab, Mithakhali, Income Tax, Usmanpura, and Parimal Garden, diverting city traffic to alternative routes near Navrangpura police station and Jalaram crossing in Paldi.

After the construction of this underpass at the crossing, the traffic will be further diverted to the Shreyas bridge, where waterlogging near the Manekbaug area worsens the situation.

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