Ahmedabad Municipal sign foretells road collapse, rain delivers
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Ahmedabad: The civic body appears to have a newfound sense of precognition. Just below the Apparel Park metro station in Khokhra, a warning sign erected in mid-May by Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) foretold that the freshly dug road "may collapse in the future".
True to the prophetic words, when the heavens finally opened on June 13 and continued the next day, the road did exactly that.
This foresight comes as the city once again plunges into its annual rainy season ritual, which is, a test of patience, balance, and sheer luck for anyone attempting to navigate our city's roads.
Despite the corporation reportedly splurging Rs 500 to Rs 600 crore annually on road repairs, residents are quick to point out that the results are "scant".
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From office-goers to students, from truck drivers to delivery agents, all find themselves battling swamped and slippery roads. Even for those in four-wheelers, the challenges are many. "You are dodging craters and constantly burning more fuel from repeatedly braking in the heavy traffic," lamented 33-year-old Mitesh Vyas, a banker from Memnagar. Newly resurfaced roads in Bopal-Ambli, Gurukul-Bhuyangdev road, Maninagar and one near Odhav flyover crumbled soon after the first few instances of showers.
"If it rains heavily, you can no longer see the potholes and end up damaging your vehicle or being involved in an accident. At the very least, you will have to endure body pain after the constant bumpy ride," said Akshay Tripathi, a resident of Naroda.
To repair each cave-in, the civic body spends Rs 25 lakh. Also, more than 15,000 potholes appear annually during rains, with 19,000 recorded in 2024-25 alone. Separate tenders are issued for pothole repairs, costing over Rs 1 crore per zone, and post-monsoon repairs cost between Rs 5 crore and Rs 7 crore annually, AMC sources said.
A recent report by the chief auditor for 2023-24 has unearthed a concerning issue: files pertaining to road resurfacing projects valued at roughly Rs 2,000 crore over the last five years were never submitted for audit. This lapse follows a 2017 scandal involving duplicate bills for road damage repairs and bitumen, after which audits of roadworks across AMC's seven zones were halted.
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