Danapith parking link is a bridge too far for Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation

Blurb: AMC’s plan was to raze the Danapith fire station, build a new station cum multi-level parking, and create a pedestrian bridge from the parking to the corporation’s HQ. Though the building is ready, the bridge has not been constructed

Ahmedabad: Despite spending Rs 54 crore, the AMC has not completed its six-year-old plan to raze the Danapith fire station, build a new station cum multi-level parking, and create a pedestrian bridge from the parking to the corporation’s HQ. Though the building is ready, the bridge has not been constructed.

AMC sources stated that a Unesco team visited Ahmedabad in March 2026 to assess heritage repercussions of projects such as the redevelopment of the Kalupur railway station and the building of Danapith multi-level parking.

The Danapith project has faced delays due to design changes, tender modifications, and implementation delays. Initially, a pedestrian bridge was announced, but that wasn’t clarified during the plan-approval stage. Now that the building is ready, there seems to be no plan for the bridge.

An AMC official said that the pedestrian bridge was not planned during the tendering of the building. Therefore, it wasn’t included in the tender provisions.

If officials involved at the time discussed the bridge, the current team is unaware of any such discussions.

In 2020, AMC demolished the Danapith fire station, but the next steps were stalled for over a year and a half. The archaeological department granted an NOC but reduced the building’s height from 21 metres to 18 metres, leading to design changes and a reduced parking capacity by over 100 vehicles.

The height reduction was due to heritage property regulations.

As for the construction, it includes two basements, a ground floor, and six floors for staff and public parking, covering approximately 28,000 square metres.

Box:

Rotary parking plan for AMC HQ scrapped

Times News Network

Ahmedabad: In Feb 2024, a proposal was approved to install the rotary parking system for 12 cars at Danapith multi-level parking near the AMC’s main office.

The estimated cost of the project was Rs 1 crore. The pilot project was to include five years of maintenance. However, this proposal has been scrapped.