Ahmedabad Metropolitan Region

Size does matter for Ahmedabad especially after the registrar general announced the Ahmedabad Urban Agglomeration (AUA) some time back — spanning 750 square kilometres, which will form the core urban area of city. But few know that a plan for the Ahmedabad Metropolitan Region (AMR) spanning 10,222 square kilometres, much on the lines of National Capital Region (NCR)-Delhi, Mumbai metropolitan region (MMR) gathers dust in the state government. CEPT University was roped in as a consultant for the project and asked to prepare a report on AMR which they submitted two years back. But since then has been tangled up in a variety of political and regional issues. However, CEPT had submitted a plan for Hyderabad-Secunderabad metropolitan region spanning more than 8,000 square kilometres and has been accepted by the Andhra Pradesh state government. “The issue is complex as regional controls play a major role in decision making process. These include, village, taluka, and district level controls which is yet to be resolved. Earlier there were talks on a 3,000 square kilometres and 4,000 square kilometres of metropolitan area for Ahmedabad and was stuck in these vital issues,” says a senior official in the Gujarat Industrial Development Board (GIDB). Ahmedabad was talking big in AMR as the plan stretched the city’s limits up to as far as Viramgam, Mehsana, Prantij, Petlad, Umreth, Tarapur and Nalsarovar. A big leap, given that just three years ago Ahmedabad was just a 198 sq km city when it gobbled up another 300 sq km to emerge as a mega city spread over 498 sq km and housing 55 lakh people. To begin with, the plan suggests that Ahmedabad metropolitan will be powered by four immediate growth centres — Sanand, Dehgam, Kalol and Mehemdabad. Later, it would also encompass seven new urban centres — Anand, Tarapur, Nadiad, Matar in the south-east of the metro region and Kadi, Viramgam, Detroj in the north-west. At least three options for urban agglomerate were submitted to the urban development department which included, plans for 1,880 sq km, 1,240 sq km and 944 sq km. The census department had mentioned an urban agglomerate for 750 sq km. And just like NCR Development Authority lords over 30,000 sq km area as a policy making and planning body, Ahmedabad Metropolitan Region Development Authority (AMRDA) was to be responsible for planning growth in the region without confronting the authority and functioning of panchayats. Sources said while the AMR Bill is being drafted, a notification would be enough to kickstart the process. With big ticket projects like Tata’s Nano parked next door, special investment regions (SIRs) in Dholera all set to take off and the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) gearing up to drive through, Ahmedabad is dreaming big.