On Thursday, an Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) crew began demolition work on approximately 15 residential items in Thakor Vaas near Abhay Ghat as part of the Gandhi Ashram Memorial & Precinct Development. This is the first demolition project undertaken by the state government as part of the Rs 1,200-crore project carried out jointly by the Gujarat and Central governments.
As part of the undertaking, the state authorities is evacuating the residents of the Ashram and paying them a one-time settlement quantity Rs 60 lakhs from the district collector to vacate the properties owned by various trusts associated with the Sabarmati-Harijan Ashram. The descendants of those who lived on the ashram with Mahatma Gandhi in the early 1900s own the majority of the residential items.
Following a survey, the state authorities identified approximately 250-260 ashramites who live in residential units throughout the ashram and must be relocated for the project.
“We have started demolishing the residential units of Thakor Vaas residents who have accepted Rs 60 lakh as compensation and who have handed over the possession of the same. So yes, the process to demolish the units for the project has started from today,” a senior AMC officer, on the basis of anonymity said.
“The compensation instalments have been accepted by 63 ashramites so far. The possession of those 63 has been turned over to the Ahmedabad collector. It’s pointless to keep those units after they’ve been sealed. The units that are old and must be preserved will be left alone for preservation. Thakor Vaas’ residential units are not to be preserved, so they are being demolished to make way for an open plot,” the officer explained.
Initially, the authorities had deliberate to demolish round 10-15 items that will take two to 3 days.
The officer also stated that the land on which the ashramites’ residential units are located belonged to a number of trusts associated with the ashram. “The ashramites are trust tenants” (s). As a result, the land will be vacated following the demolition. Separate negotiations for land are also underway with the trusts. That is a separate issue that must be addressed with the trust in question,” the officer stated.
There are six trusts who’re custodians of the land, a part of the unique Ashram. These embody Sabarmati Ashram Preservation and Memorial Trust (SAPMT), Sabarmati Harijan Ashram Trust (SHAT), The Khadi Gramodyog Prayog Samiti (KGPS), Sabarmati Ashram Gaushala Trust (SAGT), Gujarat Harijan Sevak Sangh (GHSS), and Gujarat Khadi Gramodyog Mandal.
The state authorities’s plan is to make all the Gandhi Ashram precincts right into a world-class memorial. It has fashioned two committees – a governing council headed by the chief minister and an government council headed by the Chief Principal Secretary to the CM, Okay Kailashnathan, for implementing the undertaking.
The Ahmedabad collector, who is also a member secretary of the governing council and the chief council, has also formed a neighbourhood coordination committee to coordinate the rehabilitation work of the ashramites as needed. It has also appointed three ashramites to the native coordination committee.