Gujarat: Nine years on, no progress on Calico Dome

AHMEDABAD: In 2010, the Gujarat high court told the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) to restore the Calico Dome, with its original mathematical perfection, within a year.
The dome had been built by Gautam Sarabhai and his team in 1962, inspired by the geodesic design of Buckminster Fuller. The dome had combined a shop and an exhibition hall for Calico Mills.As part of an order on the liquidation of Calico Mills, the HC had mandated that the mill's chimney, and Calico Dome, be preserved as part of the city's industrial heritage.
Nine years after the restoration was promised, the AMC standing committee resolved that the current consultant for the project, Vadodara Design Academy (VDA), should submit its restoration methodology in a fortnight, waste no time and begin work as soon as possible.
This was confirmed by standing committee chairman Amul Bhatt.
In 2010, the AMC had asked the HC to allow it to buy the dome from the official liquidator of Calico Mills, so to restore it. None of the consultants engaged by the AMC for the purpose have delivered. The earlier consultant, according to Heritage Conservation Committee (HCC) documents obtained under RTI by Kalupur resident Pankaj Bhatt, architect Hiren Gandhi, was in charge for quite a long time. This January, Gandhi proposed that the project was about "celebrating heritage" and suggested replacing the old Calico Dome with a modern geodesic dome. He cited present day exigencies like fires, the impact of the earthquake, protection against heavy wind. The HCC rejected Gandhi's plan saying that it was untenable and would go against the HC order. The HCC noted that considerable time had passed and recommended appointing VDA as the new consultant.
VDA had submitted a detailed report on the dome restoration in November 2017. "A lot of time has been wasted. It seems the HCC was least interested in taking stock of the project," says Bhatt. The first fashion show in Ahmedabad was organized at the dome. Actress Parveen Babi took part in shows in the 1970s when she was a student. When Calico Mills wound up in 1990s, the dome began getting run down. In the 2001 earthquake, the central portion of the dome collapsed and heavy rain damaged the interior of the underground shop.