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Part 4 of 5 · ૪

Threats

Riverfront development, displacement, and what stands to be lost.

 

The threats to the Gujari Bazaar find echoes in the massive evictions leading to loss of habitat and livelihood that have accompanied urban infrastructure and real-estate projects in Ahmedabad, as well as in other cities like Mumbai (link), Delhi (link), and Hyderabad (link).

The Gujari Association was served a legal eviction notice in 1998, 1 year after the Sabarmati Riverfront Development Project Proposal (EPC 1997) was accepted by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and the formation of the Sabarmati Riverfront Development Corporation Limited.

The Gujari Association appealed against the eviction orders, but the appeal was finally overturned in June 2010. In the interim, the Association continued to pay rents and taxes to the District Collector (till 2003), and continues to pay for municipal services till date, in order to operate.

 

Also, in 2008-2009, due to the construction activities for the Sabarmati Riverfront Project, space for the market began to diminish due to digging, constructions of walls, and the sharp height differential that makes it dangerous to operate along its previously contiguous space. By summer 2011, about 40-50% of the market’s area of operation has been lost, forcing the traders to reorganize themselves in a much smaller area, and almost 200 traders have lost complete access to trading space in the market and are forced to use roadsides or less than safe spaces at the edge of the riverbank.

These events occurred with no direct communication between the project officials and the traders association, and there was a growing unease about their upcoming forcible eviction, without any possibility of rehabilitation. The market association has been excluded from any discussion or decision-making process regarding the future of the bazaar.

The community-based modernization and upgradation Plan made by the Gujari Association with the support of NID and IIM was submitted to all the relevant authorities (Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, Sabarmati Riverfront Corporation, Urban development department of the State Government of Gujarat), after inviting some key decision-makers to a public workshop where it was presented. However, they have not received any calls for a discussion on how their plan might be used, or integrated with the rest of the Sabarmati Riverfront Project, or might serve as a foundation for their inclusion into the riverfront future plans. In sum, their efforts to support an inclusive urban planning approach has also been ignored, raising their fears about their future evictions and exclusion.

Meanwhile, the uncertainty about the future hangs heavy at the market every Sunday.