Gujarat High Court pulls up AMC over the condition of roads in the city The Gujarat High Court has come down heavily on the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) on the issue of bad roads. 80 per cent of city roads were washed out in the recent rains and the thousands of potholes have become the city’s identity. The second division bench of justice MR Shah and justice BN Karia is hearing public interest litigation filed by Mustak Kadri. His grievances are that the corporation has failed to provide quality services. On Thursday, the division bench pulled up the civic body for the poor quality of roads in the city. The court opined, “Don’t recover tax if you can’t provide services; citizens pay taxes with a legitimate expectation of quality services. All those responsible for poor quality of roads should be taken to task.” The court has given the AMC three weeks to repair and resurface roads and to ensure that roads are commuter-friendly. It has also asked the municipal commissioner to submit the action and the status report before the next hearing. The court is of view that all washed away roads should be repaired and resurfaced by the contractors at their own cost. It has also instructed the AMC to share information about the officer responsible for the poor quality of roads, publicise their name and contact numbers in the newspaper and put the same on the corporation website so that people can contact them to complain. Petitioner’s advocate Amit Panchal submitted that an independent inquiry should be conducted to investigate the reason behind the poor quality of roads and why there is no vigilance over resurfacing work. The court was surprised to learn that though there is a Vigilance Cell in the corporation, there is no check on the quality of services. It has also asked the corporation to review the terms and conditions of road contract and stated that minimum 20 per cent of the tender amount should be paid as a deposit. By the time city roads are repaired, the court has also asked the corporation to address the dust problem, as it has become a health issue due to washed away roads. At one point, it orally observed that to travel a distance of one kilometre, one needs ten minutes and in satire commented, “Hope there is no nexus between the corporation officers and orthopaedic surgeons.” The AMC has assured that it will repair a majority of roads within three weeks. Angry residents block road Forgetting about the Gandhian way of protesting against poor facilities, residents of Bapunagar took to the road on Thursday and stopped vehicles from entering. “We got tired of the situation. We made several complaints, but to no avail. We pay taxes and expect AMC to provide us with basic facilities,” a local said.

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