The Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA) has issued notices to approximately 50 Ready Mix Concrete (RMC) plants in areas falling under their jurisdiction, including Godhavi, Thol, Shela, Jaspur and Telav, for violating environmental norms and Comprehensive General Development Control Regulations (CGDCR).
Most of these plants are operating within or adjacent to residential zones, which clearly contravenes CGDCR regulations and creates significant problems for local residents.
Of the 50 RMC plants that received notices, 10 have already been sealed. The remaining facilities under scrutiny are located in residential areas including Godhavi, Town Planning (TP) no. 429 (spanning Godhavi and Manipur), Jaspur, Manipur, Thol, Shela and Telav, along with outlying areas such as Kalol, Dehgam, Sanand, Ranasan, Enasan, Santej and Aslali.
Repeated warnings ignored
According to sources, these commercial RMC plants had received prior notifications from the authorities. AUDA subsequently issued reminder notices last month (February) instructing operators to adhere to regulatory norms or face closure of their units. “However, since they didn’t follow the order, AUDA officials have sealed 10 RMC units and have given notice to others for the same,” said the source, adding, “These units will have to wait for their fate till AUDA’s next board meeting.”
When contacted, AUDA CEO DP Desai said, “The RMC plants are permitted to operate only in agriculture, industrial and logistic zones, subject to the permission from GPCP and local authorities (like AUDA, as per the area jurisdiction). Since many of these were operational in residential zones too, we have sealed them.”
According to Desai, the upcoming AUDA board meeting will establish a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), after which the authority will issue permissions and No Objection Certificates (NOCs) in accordance with statutory provisions.
Air qualityconcerns mount
Sources close to the development revealed that many of these RMC plants are flouting basic CGDCR norms and other requirements, such as maintaining proper margin areas alongside roads, adhering to land coverage regulations for plant operations and preventing waste material spillage onto roadways. Their delivery systems are also problematic, frequently causing damage to local roads. Furthermore, these plants neither employ water sprinklers to settle dust nor install green nets to control environmental contamination, resulting in significant deterioration of the Air Quality Index (AQI) in surrounding areas.