Smart City Ahmedabad? Many AMC gardens lack functioning CCTV cameras, lights

Despite having an annual budget of over ₹15,000 crore, lapses have been observed in ‘Smart City’ Ahmedabad’s administration. The city has around 285 small and large gardens spread across different wards. In many of these gardens, CCTV cameras are non-functional, while several gardens don’t have cameras installed at all. 

A written complaint regarding this was submitted to the Amdavad Municipal Corporation’s e-Governance department two months ago.

Another issue with city gardens is related to lighting. In areas of gardens where the grid is directly linked to municipal connection, the lights remain switched on throughout the night. But in other areas, lights go off after 10 pm, leaving the gardens in complete darkness. This was revealed by Recreation Committee Chairman Jayesh Trivedi.

Most of the gardens across 48 wards of the city, which are under the corporation’s administration, have been handed over to a cooperative organisation for 24 years under an operation and maintenance contract. As per the Memorandum of Understanding, it is the organisation’s responsibility to manage lights, security, and other facilities in the gardens.

At a Recreation Committee meeting held on Monday, a BJP corporator raised concerns about anti-social elements creating trouble at the Ambedkarnagar Garden in Bapunagar. The committee instructed the Garden Department to conduct a survey of such gardens across the city facing similar issues and to install fencing with round-channeling for better safety.

Notably, Trivedi admitted that two months ago, a list of gardens with non-functional CCTV cameras and gardens without any CCTV cameras had been submitted. The Garden Department had also been asked to provide an update on the matter.