"Traffic A Big Issue In Ahmedabad, Requires Holistic Planning": Gujarat High Court

A division bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Pranav Trivedi were hearing a PIL petition moved by 20 residents of the city with respect to the bridge construction covering an area length of 652 metres.

The senior counsel appearing for the petitioners said while the bridge/flyover would cover only one crossroad however there was a “huge green area on both sides of the road”. He said that while “four trees” had already been destroyed, the “others are sought to be destroyed” as well. The senior counsel said that additionally the contract for construction of the bridge had been given to a company “which has the track record of two bridges having fallen down”.

Observing that the court “may like to expand the scope” of the PIL because there are traffic issues, Chief Justice Agarwal orally said to the petitioner's counsel, “Why don't you raise this issue of this flyover from where we are entering towards the high court area. There is one road (which) goes towards SG (Sarkhej–Gandhinagar) highway and one crosses towards the high court. And there are a lot of accidents. Every second or third week. I was unfortunate enough to see a young dead body in the early morning, when I was coming to the high court.”

Highlighting another issue pertaining to traffic in the city, the Chief Justice said, “People here, two wheeler riders; they are not wearing helmets. Almost every day there are accidents, young people are dying…And in Bodakdev the road which goes towards…that is known as judge's bungalow road is the most dangerous. Morning or later evening I can hear voices of two wheelers without the silencers crossing at full speed. So traffic is a big issue. It is not confined to this particular flyover; it needs a holistic planning for the city”.

With respect to the petitioner's contention that Ahmedabad has the least green cover in the country, the Chief Justice orally remarked, “After some time it will become a concrete jungle almost…I was being modest when I said that 'after some time'.”

The high court further orally remarked that planning for any flyover or crossroad has to be done keeping in mind the “structure of the city”. The high court said that these issues be raised as well in the PIL petition, to which the senior counsel for the petitioners said that the same will be done, as amendments to the plea.

Asking the petitioner to raise all of these issues, the Chief Justice orally said, “We were looking forward (to) somebody coming up to us. Especially for these areas…The areas where SG highway connects to the city roads. Those areas are very vulnerable”.

Before parting, the senior counsel said that between 2011 till now (2024), there had been a 48% reduction of green cover in Ahmedabad, adding that cities like Bengaluru and Chennai had increased their green cover. He said, “Perhaps it (Ahmedabad) is the second largest city after Kolkata with very little green cover. The other cities including Mumbai and Delhi have a much larger green cover”.

The high court thereafter listed the matter on August 5, asking the petitioners to serve an advance notice to the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation along with the requisite amendments to the petition.

Case title : Dharini Shah and Others v State of Gujarat and Others