Ahmedabad becomes the first city in the world, selected by the WB and AusAID for drawing up a development strategy.

Widening of bridges and roads and flyovers in the walled city area, besides checking vehicular pollution and increasing green cover in the city were some of the suggestions made by journalists during a discussion organised by Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) on Thursday.

Suggestions made by scribes during a discussion with representatives of World Bank (WB) and the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) will be included in the statement for the City Development Strategy (CDS) to be prepared by AMC in the next eight months.

Municipal Commissioner K Kailashnathan said technical and financial support for preparation and implementation of CDS would be provided by WB, AusAID and other donor agencies.

He said the CDS would be prepared keeping in view development during the next 15 to 20 years. In this context, the AMC had also organised a two-day workshop, which concluded on July 28. "A large number of stakeholders including representatives from the field of arts and culture, voluntary organisations, trade unions, builders, architects and urban planners offered valuable suggestions with regard to formation of the CDS," WB representative Kim Cunco said.

She said Ahmedabad is the first city in the world, selected by the WB and AusAID for drawing up a development strategy. "We chose Ahmedabad because yours is an outstanding city in many ways; in terms of infrastructure, civic management and, moreover, it is safe for women," Kim told reporters, adding, "The only city as outstanding as Ahmedabad is Kuitiba in Brazil."

Giving a broad outline of the CDS, AusAID consultant John Mand said it would be prepared keeping in view "the strengths and weaknesses of the city, the problems and threats it is facing from outside." He said CDS would have as its focus water supply, sewerage, rain-water drainage, road and transport and the city’s economic and educational facilities. "While preparing the CDS, constraints and opportunities would be taken into consideration and a pre-feasibility study of each project would be carried out before implementation," Mand said.

An AMC release, however, stated that a draft vision statement would first be formulated. Task forces on specific issues, comprising experts and other interested citizens, would be constituted.

Accordingly, AMC will invite citizens to participate in these task forces. The final recommendation of these task forces will again be discussed at a workshop of stakeholders to arrive at a consensus. The vision statement will then be submitted to the AMC Standing Committee. The vision statement adopted by the AMC will serve as a guide to future developmental activities in the city. The implementation of the vision statement will be spelled out in the city business/corporate plan, which will culminate with the preparation of a five-year Capital Investment Programme.

Compiled from local news media