A tale of two Gujarati cities - Dholera

At a time, when living in urban India means traffic snarls, crowded streets, long queues for almost every civic amenity and limited residential accommodation, a smart city seems like a pipe dream. Dholera, about 100 km from Ahmedabad, is promising to be that dream. Whether it lives up to that promise, time will tell.

The Dholera Special Investment Region is a part of the 1,483-km-long Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project. The project is being developed by the DMIC Development Corporation with Japanese funding of about $4.5 billion. When completed, it will stretch between Dadri in the National Capital Region and Jawaharlal Nehru Port near Mumbai, passing through Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

Other places such as Shendra in Maharashtra, Manesar in Haryana and Khushkera in Rajasthan will also have smart cities under the project, but Dholera is likely to the first.

Designed to provide technology-supported civic infrastructure, Dholera is the outcome of the Gujarat government’s Special Investment Region (SIR) Act, 2009, which seeks to create world-class infrastructure for urban centres. IT major Cisco is undertaking a feasibility study before the actual work begins.

“The city will use ICT (information and communications technology) for management of urban amenities like drainage, traffic, water supplies among others. This will make it a smart city for the next generation,” says AT Patel, deputy collector, Dholera SIR Development Authority.

The Greenfield city is envisaged to be an economic hub with residential facilities. Spread over 920 sq km, Dholera will be double the size of Ahmedabad and house two million people, a third of Ahmedabad’s current population.

According to officials, of the total notified area, about 325 sq km falls under the Coastal Regulation Zone and about 128 sq km is agricultural land. Hence, developable area is 422 sq km, which will include industrial, residential and commercial areas.

“In spite of being an urban centre, this city will not have traffic issues, queues or congested residential apartments,” says Patel.

The city will take 30 years to complete. The first brick may be laid in a year’s time. Officials were not willing to share specifics of projected investments or the companies investing.

Strategically located, Dholera will have the advantage of being connected to Ahmedabad through a proposed Metro rail and an expressway, while an international airport is also planned outside the special investment region, near Navagam.

Land acquisition for roads and other common infrastructure amenities has begun. The city will have its own Effluent Treatment Plant.

The project has, however, faced some resistance from locals. Some farmers and residents of 22 villages of Dholera Taluka, which fall under the Dholera SIR limit, have challenged the notification of the SIR Act.

The petitioners have alleged that the Act is unconstitutional as some of its provisions were contrary to those relating to Panchayats. The case is pending.