'We will sit on hunger strike'

Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s (AMC) plan to widen to 100 feet the road that passes through Thaltej village may provide a smoother and faster commute but residents of the area are vehemently opposed to the exercise. They do not want their houses and shops sacrificed in the name of development.

They have threatened to go on hunger strike if the AMC doesn’t scrap its plan to widen the road. The civic body plans to remove 400-odd shops and residential units in the 200-year-old Thaltej village to widen the road that connects Thaltej Crossroads to Govardhan party plot on SG Highway.

These owners of the 400-odd shops and houses have formed ‘Ghar-Dukaan Bachao Samiti’, an association to fight the AMC’s road-widening plan. In November 2009, they had submitted a memorandum to the corporation expressing their opposition to the plan.

“In 2009, we were served a notice to vacate our houses and shops as the AMC wanted to demolish them to widen the road,” said Ramaji Thakor, a member of the Samiti on Tuesday.

“But we formed an association and met several AMC officials requesting them not to widen the road," he added.

According to Thakor, the AMC had promised them in 2009 that the road will not be widened to 100 feet but only to 60 feet. This would not have affected their shops and residences, he said. “But if they revert to the original plan (to construct a 100-feet wide road) and remove us, we will go on a hunger strike,” said Mukesh Panchal, another member of the Samiti.

Thakor further said that they do not want any compensation or alternative arrangements. Residents simply want roads to be widened to the extent that they are not displaced from their homes.