This story is from May 19, 2018

Kharicut canal to turn into six-lane road

Kharicut canal to turn into six-lane road
GANDHINAGAR: The 138-year-old Kharicut canal will now be covered and converted into a 21-km six-lane road. The state government has given the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation in-principle approval for two projects, cumulatively worth Rs 451 crore, to redevelop the Kharicut canal.
Government officials say the move will curb pollution caused by toxic waste and illegal domestic waste being dumped into the canal.
It will also ease traffic congestion in the surrounding industrial areas and on the roads leading to the Vadodara expressway. A senior government official told TOI: “The cost of redevelopment is estimated to be Rs 346 crore for Phase I, which covers the Naroda to Expressway stretch, and Rs 105 crore for the Expressway to Ring Road stretch. Work is expected to begin after the monsoon.”
This new avatar envisioned for the canal will quietly replace earlier plans for a vehicle-free, pedestrian-friendly public space, along the canal. ‘
An earlier Rs 65-crore plan was going to strengthen the canal lining and make space for eight major parks and gardens. An pilot stretch was built and inaugurated by the then chief minister, Narendra Modi, in August 2010.
The budget for the earlier project was announced in 2011-12. It was supposed to get continuous parapets, 15 project galleries, upgrades for 40 bridges, 40 mini-waterfalls and fountains, a joggers track and 1,500 ornamental lampposts. None of that came through.
Eight years on, a senior government official told TOI that the proposed six-lane road on Kharicut canal will reduce traffic on NH-8 and Sardar Patel Ring Road.

The other hope for officials is that the road will deter the ongoing illegal dumping of solid waste by residential and commercial establishments and toxic sludge by industrial units. The other promises are that,
“The road project will reduce mosquitoes, the bad odour that pervades the area and serious diseases like skin allergies and cancer,” said an official.
A senior officer said, “The banks will be levelled and new sewage, water and stormwater drainage lines will be laid.”
The officer adds, “The canal will turn into a large closed duct that will carry Narmada water for irrigation. Sewage and stormwater lines will be laid along the canal to reduce waterlogging.”
The heavy pollution in the canal had also rendered thousands of acres of agricultural land unfit for crops.
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