Why no survey of footfall, parking space before allowing new hospitals, restaurants, asks court
A division bench of the Gujarat High Court led by Justice MR Shah on Wednesday sought to know from the state government and the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation why no surveys about potential number of people and vehicles were ever carried out before granting permission to establishments.
"Before giving permission to hospitals, schools and restaurants why is no one asking the number of people who will come there, if there is adequate facility to park, etc," the court asked while hearing a petition filed about the poor condition of roads in the city.
The high court bench sought to know from the civic body's counsel why no one was held responsible, and why no notices were issued or fines imposed on establishments whose lack of adequate parking facilities created chaos in the city.
Pointing to how the AMC ignored even the court's directions, the bench said everyone was happy near the Sola-Thaltej junction for a day when the AMC sought to remove illegally parked vehicles. "But the next day everything was back to as it was," observed the court.
The AMC informed the court that it had come up with new provisions to be adopted for damaged roads as well as for resurfacing. The civic body said that it was also considering third-party inspections to improve the quality of the city roads.
When the AMC pointed out that roads were often dug up on weekends for laying gas and phone lines, the court said the permission for the same was being given by the civic body. The petitioner's counsel said the civic body took deposits from companies for laying pipelines and the same was taken as surety to ensure that the roads were repaired once the work was completed. But this never happens nor is the deposit forfeited, the counsel pointed out. The AMC also admitted that it suffered from staff shortage and, in fact, most of the work for the new west zone was done through contractors.
BAD EXCUSE!
When the AMC pointed out that roads were often dug up on weekends for laying gas and phone lines, the court said the permission for the same was being given by the civic body.
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