AMC Sets Big City Goals With Rs 18,518cr Blueprint, Promises Beggar-Free Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad: The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation's standing committee has approved an Rs 18,518-crore budget for 2026-27, headlined by an ambitious plan to make the city beggar-free, a feasibility study for an ‘Ahmedabad Eye' observation wheel on the Sabarmati Riverfront modelled on London's iconic landmark, and a novel shared-funding scheme to install CCTV cameras and air-quality sensors across residential societies.The budget, now headed to the general board for final approval, was cleared without increasing property or vehicle taxes. The plan accelerates geotagging and e-governance platforms to map municipal assets, track works, and handle complaints in real time — moves designed to plug leakages and ensure delivery without delays. It incorporates Rs 1,500 crore in amendments shaped by citizen feedback to improve infrastructure and mobility. These include adding an underpass near the Hillock Hotel after residents protested detours caused by the closure of a road.The standing committee also rejected the relocation of the slaughterhouse in the Walled City. A special citywide push for CCTV cameras and air-quality sensors in housing societies on a 70:20:10 cost-sharing model (societies:AMC: state govt), subject to state approval has also been made in the proposal. Infrastructure spending flows into drainage and stormwater system overhauls, new pumping stations, water distribution networks, and town-planning (TP) schemes in newly developing pockets. The budget also backs a Rs 20 crore AI-based traffic signals and control-room upgrades to ease traffic congestion with trials for smart/green parking in public buildings. A Rs 50-crore mobility package funds bridges, flyovers and underpasses including the Maninagar railway overbridge, a flyover from Danilimda crossroads to Khodiyarnagar, a restricted-height underpass at Tragad, and an underpass from Divyajyot School to Shilaj (Thaltej). Two PPP corridors — Nima Farm-Mumatpura underpass and CTM Crossroads -Anaj Market Gate — draw Rs 10 crore each.Public health infrastructure gets a facelift with a Rs 50 crore super-specialty medical institute in Nikol, new urban health centres worth Rs 32 crore, physiotherapy units in Sabarmati and Chandlodia, cervical cancer treatment support, free sanitary pads in schools. Community-scale improvements include women's gyms, community halls, and dog shelters. Environmental projects carry serious weight: a Rs 50-crore floating solar initiative for cleaner energy and reduced evaporation, Rs 20 crore for waste-to-CNG conversion, Rs 20 crore for lake interlinking and flood mitigation, and Rs 5 crore for a bonsai garden combining research with public outreach.