Five decades after families displaced by the 1973 Sabarmati floods lost their homes and land, the long-pending issue of ownership was resolved on Sunday as Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah distributed land ownership certificates to rehabilitated residents of Nava Vanzar village and inaugurated a series of civic projects worth ₹330 crore in Ahmedabad.
The programme, organised by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation in Gandhinagar in the presence of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, also marked the inauguration of the Western Trunk Main Line project, a major drainage initiative aimed at addressing chronic sewage and wastewater problems in the western and south-western parts of the city.
Calling the event “small but extremely important”, Mr. Shah said citizens who lost everything in the 1973 floods had finally received legal ownership of their plots after 50 years. “In a large city like Ahmedabad, 173 beneficiaries may appear to be a small number, but for them this moment is historic and deeply emotional,” he said.
Mr. Shah said the resolution of a five-decade-old problem reflected a model of sensitive governance. He noted that nearly 15 lakh residents of western and south-western Ahmedabad had long faced the absence of a proper sewage system, even as rapid urbanisation took place between 2000 and 2005 in areas stretching from Shela to Chandkheda.
