JNNURM

SABARMATI RIVER FRONT DEVELOPMENT

INTRODUCTION

Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) was a massive city-
modernization scheme launched by the Government of India under Ministry of Urban
Development.

JNNURM was launched on 3rd December 2005 with the objective of :

• Focused attention to integrated development of basic services to the urban poor;
• Security of tenure at affordable price, improved housing, water supply, sanitation;
Convergence of services in fields of education, health and social security;
• As far as possible providing housing near the place of occupation of the urban poor
• Effective linkage between asset creation and asset management to ensure efficiency
• Scaling up delivery of civic amenities and provision of utilities with emphasis on universal
access to urban poor.
• Ensuring adequate investment of funds to fulfill deficiencies in the basic services to the
urban poor.
 STRUCTURE

JnNURM primarily incorporates two sub-missions into its program:

• The Sub-Mission for Urban Infrastructure and Governance administered by the Ministry of Urban Development,
with a focus on water supply and sanitation, solid waste management, road network, urban transport and
redevelopment of old city area.

• The Sub-Mission for Basic Services to the Urban Poor (BSUP) administered by the Ministry of Housing and Urban
Poverty Alleviation with a focus on integrated development of slums

In addition to this, it has two further components:

• The Sub-Mission for Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small & Medium Towns (UIDSSMT)
administered by the Ministry of Urban Development, with a focus on subsuming the schemes of Integrated
Development of Small and Medium Towns (IDSMT) and Accelerated Urban Water Supply Programme (AUWSP)
which aim at planned urban infrastructural improvement in towns and cities under its purview.

• The Sub-Mission for Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme (IHSDP) administered by Ministry of
Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (MHUPA) was envisaged and brought into effect in 1993–94 in
accordance with providing the entire population with safe and adequate water supply facilities. The program is
mainly implemented in towns with populations less than 20,000 as per the 1991 census
 DURATION AND IMPLEMENTATION

Duration
The duration of the mission is seven years beginning from December 2005. During this period, the mission sought to
ensure sustainable development of participating cities. An evaluation of the experience of implementation of the
mission would be undertaken before the end of the Eleventh Five Year Plan in 2012. The duration of the mission was
extended by two more years: until 31 March 2014.

Implementation mechanism
The funds are channeled through state-level agencies, where grants from the central and state governments are
pooled and passed on as grants or soft loans to cities provided that they have prepared development strategies
and that the investments identified fit within these strategies. The mission emphasizes transparency and
accountability. It supports public-private partnerships and cost recovery to make service providers financially self-
sustaining. The share of grant funding by the central government can vary from 35% in the largest cities to up to
90% in cities in the Northeast. Most cities receive grants covering 50% or 80% of costs depending on size. Capacity
building is also included in the mission to assist urban local bodies to prepare strategies and projects.

Ten projects are covered by JNNURM funds pertaining to road network, storm water drains, bus rapid transit system,
water supply, solid waste management, sewage treatment, river and lake improvement, slum improvement and
rehabilitation, all fall under its scope.
SABARMATI RIVER FRONT DEVELOPMENT
 INTRODUCTION

• Ahmedabad has always had a strong connection with the Sabarmati River.
• Growing industrialization resulted in environmental degradation of the river.
• Since Sabarmati was a seasonal river, it ran dry for 9 months of the year and carried water
mostly during the monsoon season.
• The dry riverbed and riverbanks were used for farming and a regular weekly market,
Ravivaari.
• A number of informal settlements arose along the riverbanks, reducing direct access to the
river. The riverfront settlements affected the river’s flood carrying capacity and exacerbating
the affects of seasonal flooding.
• Over time, these informal riverfront settlements encroached to the bank of the river.
Therefore, there was no more public access possible along the length of the river, as well as
little access to the bed of the river.
• As a consequence, the only places from which the river could be enjoyed by citizens were the
bridges. The initiative to revitalize the Sabarmati Riverfront envisioned making it possible
for all of Ahmedabad’s inhabitants to enjoy riverfront access and amenities.
 OBJECTIVES

The project aims to provide Ahmedabad with a meaningful waterfront environment along
the banks of the Sabarmati River and to redefine an identity of Ahmedabad around the river.
The project looks to reconnect the city with the river and positively transform the neglected
aspects of the riverfront.

The objectives of this multidimensional project can be categorised under three topics-

1. Environmental Improvement: reduction in erosion and flood to safeguard the city;

sewage diversion to clean the river; water retention and recharge.

2. Social Infrastructure: rehabilitation and resettlement of riverbed dwellers and activities;

creation of parks and public spaces; provision of socio-cultural amenities for the city.

3. Sustainable Development: generation of resources, revitalisation of neighbourhoods.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

Environmental Improvement
Strategies for overall environmental improvement have been formulated to achieve the following objectives:

Reduction in Erosion and Flood

Strategies for flood protection, bank protection, and river training have been formulated based on detailed
hydrological and hydraulic analysis and an optimal width of 263 meters for the water way has been
selected.

Sewage Diversion
To stop the pollution of the river from untreated sewage and industrial effluents, an integrated storm water
and sewage system with interceptor sewers has been implemented.

Water Retention and Recharge

As Sabarmati is not a perennial river, a comprehensive strategy to manage and maintain water in the river
throughout the year has been worked out. Water retention in the river shall enable recreational activities as
well as recharge the groundwater.
 SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE

• The project aims at resettling over 10,000 households that were previously living in slums
along the banks of the river. Slum dwellers living on the riverbed and affected by the project
have been relocated and provided with ‘pucca’ housing with secured tenure. This process of
providing each claimant a permanent, titled housing in one of the many relocation sites
interspersed within the city’s boundaries has been carried out under the supervision of the
Gujarat High Court

• The project also aims at integrating the informal activities such as laundering of clothes and
informal markets. The Laundry Campus provides state-of-the-art facilities for the washing
community that has traditionally used the river banks for washing and drying of clothes. The
weekly flea market 'Ravivari' held every Sunday has been relocated to Riverfront Market , a
site adjacent to its original location where specially designed vending platforms and
designated areas for mobile vendors have been created.
 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

The project master plan aims at making the development sustainable in all aspects with the following
objectives:

Revenue Generation
The project aims to be self-financing – to achieve its goals without relying on any funding from the
government. A small portion of the reclaimed land will be sold for commercial development, to generate
sufficient enough resources to pay for developing the riverfront and managing it. The private developments
that will be built on the riverfront shall be carefully controlled by volumetric regulations to ensure that the
built environment along the riverfront is harmonious and has a memorable skyline.

Revitalisation of Neighbourhoods
It also aims to bring new life to the centre of the city and to spur broad-based upgradation and
revitalisation of surrounding neighbourhoods. The project aims to bring new life to the centre of the city
and to spur broad-based revitalisation of surrounding neighbourhoods. The land uses of the reclaimed
areas in the master plan have been allocated in relation to the existing land use of the adjacent areas.
Eighteen precincts have been identified in the project which will undergo gradual upgradation to benefit
residents and workers in central Ahmedabad by promoting integrated, high-density growth, with a focus
on walkability and public transportation
 VISION

At the outset, the project was envisioned as a multidimensional environmental improvement,

social uplifting, and urban rejuvenation project. Key objectives were to:
•Make the riverfront accessible to the public. The proposal created a continuous public
promenade on the east and west banks, thereby making the river accessible to the public.
•Stop the flow of sewage, and keep the river clean and pollution free. The proposal provided
an interceptor sewer line on both sides of the river along the entire length.
•Provide a site for the permanent re-housing of informal settlements along the riverbed. The
project planned for the relocation of existing informal settlements and improving their livelihoods
through access to better quality housing.
•Reduce the risk of erosion and overflow to flood-prone neighborhoods. The plan provided a
continuous public embankment along both banks of the river.
•Create riverfront parks, promenades and ghats (steps leading to the river) to enjoy the
water. The proposal set aside much reclaimed land for new city and neighborhood level parks.
Continuous promenades and ghats would be open for public access.
 VISION

•Provide Ahmedabad with new cultural, trade and social amenities. Along with other
improvements, a new convention and trade facility was proposed.
•Generate resources for paying project costs. The proposal included a well-defined and
detailed assessment of project costs, as well as a revenue model to ensure that the development
was self-financed and would not need additional investment from the AMC or the State.
•Enhance connections between the east and west sides of Ahmedabad. The proposal includes
new east-west connections across the river to connect both sides.
•Create a stronger identity for Ahmedabad. By creating well-defined urban design
guidelines for the development along the riverfront and the surrounding areas, the proposal
envisions creating a stronger identity for the city.
•Revitalize riverfront neighborhoods, and rejuvenate Ahmedabad. While not a part of the
original proposal, this issue became one of the significant features of the land use plan that was
subsequently prepared. The overall plan included a proposal for creating development
guidelines for the neighboring precincts. Typically, in the planning process, such development
guidelines are created at the time of creation or revision of the Development Plan by the urban
development agency responsible for the given area.
 BACKGROUND

• Sabarmati river has been an integral part in the life of Ahmedabad since the time the city was founded
in 1411 along the river banks. Besides being an important source of water, it provided a backdrop to
cultural and recreational activities.

• During the dry seasons, the river bed became a place for farming. With time it also offered place for
various informal economic activities, and the river banks were used by informal squatter settlements.

• Gradually, however, the intensive uses took their toll on the river. Untreated sewage flowed into the river
through storm water outfalls and dumping of industrial waste posed a major health and environmental
hazard. The river bank settlements were disastrously prone to floods and lacked basic infrastructure
facilities. Lacklustre development took shape along the riverfront. Such conditions made the river
inaccessible and it became a virtual divide between the two parts of the city. Slowly, the city turned its
back towards the river.

• There had been a long-standing acknowledgement that the riverfront could be turned into a major urban
asset from its undesirable state. Proposals to achieve the same have been made since the 1960s and it
was finally in 1998 that this multi-dimensional project was envisioned and undertaken by the city.
 MASTER PLAN

The Riverfront project presents a great opportunity to create a public edge to the river on the
eastern and western sides of Ahmedabad. By channeling the river to a constant width of
263m, riverbed land has been reclaimed to create 11.25 kms of public riverfront on both the
banks. The total land reclamation is 204.91 hectares.

The main considerations in allocating land uses for the reclaimed portions were: existing land
uses along the river; extent, location and configuration of reclaimed land available; potential
for development; the structural road network and form of the city; bridges proposed in the
Ahmedabad Development Plan, and the possibility of providing adequate infrastructure.
MASTER PLAN
 BEFORE AND AFTER

The Sabarmati Riverfront project is an environmental improvement, social upliftment and urban rejuvenation project .

The project aims to reclaim the private river edge as a public asset and restore the city’s relationship with its river. The
Riverfront project presents a great opportunity to create a public edge to the river on the eastern and western sides of
Ahmedabad.
 PLACES AND FACILITIES

• RIVER PROMANDE
• PARKS AND PLAZAS
• STREETS
• SPORTS FACILITIES
• AMENITIES
• SRFDCL House