CEPT students shine at international design contest

Imagine getting down at Sabarmati Railway Station, taking a leisurely walk in a green belt, relaxing on the banks of the Chandrabhaga river and shopping or visiting a museum in Sabarmati Jail! 

Well, that is what four students of the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT) University have imagined. This may not feature in Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s (AMC) list of projects but the idea of developing the area around Sabarmati Railway station - Sabarmati Transit Precinct - has fetched first prize for the students at an international design competition.

They have beaten participants from countries like Japan, UK and USA. The competition was organised by International Association for Humane Habitat in Mumbai in January.

Two designs that bagged first and second prize are from Cept and the third prize went to a design by students of The University of Kitakyushu, Japan.

The team that stood second — included Neha Mungekar and Nikhil Chaudha - and their project was on Transit Node in Pondicherry.  

Four students of the department of urban design at Cept University - Sudeept Maiti, Rajat Mukherjee, Narendra Mangwani and Sanjay Ramani - have proposed in the model to develop an area around the Sabarmati Railway Station as it is shaping out to be a major destination with a revival proposal being mooted by the railway authorities.

The model focuses on how to provide safe pedestrian space, retain the green belt in the city, revive areas around Chandrabhaga river and convert it into public space apart from providing shopping area and office space.

"In the project we propose to develop 100 hectares around Sabarmati Jail and Sabarmati Railway Station. The area also includes Gandhi Ashram and Chandrabhaga river area. We proposed three layers of activity areas — public, retail and office space," said Ramani.

The proposal also aims to revive the beauty of the Chandrabhaga river near Gandhi Ashram. "Currently, few youngsters know about the river. We propose to revive beauty of the area so that people can access the river and enjoy leisure time on its banks," said Mangwani.

The pedestrian space in the model is inspired from the walled city. The students feel that AMC and AUDA should critically examine the project and implement it if possible.