AMC in Rs 105 cr anti-pollution plan

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) and the National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL) have joined hands to reduce the dust pollution in the city.

They have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to take up a joint project named ENDURE (Ensuring Dust Reduction).

The project involves paving 40 lakh square metres of unpaved road shoulders all over the entire city with pre-cast cement concrete blocks at an estimated cost of Rs 105 crore.

This is perhaps the first project of its kind in the country in which a non-governmental organisation has ventured into promoting a participatory solution to reduce the dust pollution in a city.

According to a recent survey, 42 per cent of the air pollution in Ahmedabad is due to dust, generated from the unpaved side shoulders of the roads.

NCCL had submitted a detailed project report to AMC in January, 2004. It was followed-up by a series of meetings between the municipal commissioner, R K Tripathy and NCCL president, V K Saxena.

The proposal was approved by the AMC standing committee in May. The agrement was signed by the AMC deputy municipal commissioner, H N Desai and NCCL president, V K Saxena.

As per the agreement, the National Council for Civil Liberties will generate 75 per cent of the cost of the paving through public participation, sponsorships and donations, and the balance will be borne by AMC.

The work includes digging out six inches of soil from the road level, watering, laying of a two-inch layer of sand, fixing of 65-mm thick pre-cast, interlocking concrete blocks.

Since no cement will be used in fixing the pre-cast blocks, this eco-friendly scheme will allow rainwater seep through the blocks and recharge the aquifer.

Meanwhile, NCCL has already approached 56 private and public sector organisations, banks, educational institutes, companies and business houses, big housing societies, and small and medium industries to sponsor large areas to mitigate dust hazards.

The work is scheduled to start in the next fortnight with the paving of the stretch of road between St Xavier's College and Som Lalit Institute of Management Studies (SLIMS), gradually extending to the Gujarat University area.