Ahmedabad's Road Resurfacing Project Faces Major Delays
The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has completed resurfacing work on only ten major roads in the city's western zones. This figure represents a small fraction of the thirty-seven roads originally planned for the 2025–26 period.
Incomplete Work Causes Public Inconvenience
Residents and daily commuters continue to face significant inconvenience. Twenty-seven roads remain either pending or under active construction. The civic body allocated a substantial budget of Rs 688 crore for this ambitious infrastructure upgrade.
So far, the corporation has spent Rs 142.62 crore on the ten finished stretches. The completed roads cover parts of the West Zone, North West Zone, and South West Zone of Ahmedabad.
Multiple Factors Behind the Delays
Officials cite several reasons for the slow progress. Ongoing execution across different zones creates logistical challenges. Multiple contractors working on parallel timelines struggle with coordination.
The sheer scale of taking up numerous projects simultaneously has also contributed to the delays. Some projects could not meet their expected completion deadlines due to these complex factors.
Election Pressure Speeds Up Timeline
With civic body elections scheduled for 2026, AMC officials are now applying increased pressure. They have directed contractors to complete all remaining resurfacing work by March 31.
Two-Tier System for Road Management
The AMC handles road resurfacing through two distinct mechanisms:
- Centralized Projects: Roads wider than 60 feet fall under the central road project. The AMC manages these directly.
- Zonal Projects: Roads less than 60 feet wide are managed by the engineering departments of respective zonal offices.
For both categories, the corporation floats tenders and awards contracts to different firms for different zones. This decentralized approach directly impacts execution speed and scheduling.
Comparing Year-on-Year Performance
In the previous financial year, 2024–25, the corporation demonstrated better progress. It successfully resurfaced twenty-five major roads across the same three western zones.
An amount of Rs 220.48 crore was approved for those works. Interestingly, contractors completed all twenty-five roads at a significantly lower cost of Rs 120.90 crore.
The breakdown for 2024–25 was:
- Twelve roads in the North West Zone
- Six roads in the South West Zone
- Seven roads in the West Zone
Expanded Scope for Current Year
The current year's plan expanded considerably to cover thirty-seven roads. The distribution includes:
- Twelve roads in the West Zone
- Sixteen roads in the North West Zone
- Nine roads in the South West Zone
This larger scope naturally results in higher overall costs and longer execution timelines. The increased number of projects stretches available resources and contractor capacity.
New Defect Liability Framework Introduced
In a related development, the AMC has implemented a differentiated Defect Liability Period for road works. This system ties contractor responsibility directly to the nature and scale of the project.
The framework specifies:
- Three-Year DLP: Applies to road resurfacing works on roads less than 60 feet wide.
- Five-Year DLP: Applies to roads wider than 60 feet.
- Five-Year DLP: Also applies to white topping roads.
Civic officials state this new framework aims to improve contractor accountability. By clearly defining liability periods based on road type and construction method, the AMC hopes to reduce recurring repair costs.
The ultimate goal is to maintain higher road quality standards. The corporation wants newly resurfaced and constructed roads to remain serviceable for longer durations without requiring frequent maintenance.
