This article "Steer clear of traffic woes" appeared in India Today last month and makes for an interesting read.
Traffic situation in Ahmedabad and roads in Gujarat are much better than we have experienced in the rest of the country. (We have driven across all the States of India, except Arunachal)
However, as mentioned in the article there are still a lot of points for improvement.
Gujarat is one of the few States where pop-up religious structures are dealt with swiftly.
There are however 2 main problems that this article does not touch upon.
3 years back, squatting was not very visible within the city limits. But with massive pipe laying and road reconstruction works, migrant labour has no other option. And they continue to stay put, even after the construction in question is long completed.
I have seen shanties mowed down (which has its own ethical issues) and by nightfall, they are up and running again. If you hadn't seen the destruction, the previous day, you would have never known that it had hapenned at all
The second problem is related to the street vendors. The government allocates open space for all the sabji thelas (laaris) to sell their fruits/ veggies which has space for parking and other considerations.
But there is a large percentage of Amdavadis, who do not want to get out of their car or get their ass off their 2 wheeler to buy fruits and veggies. They want drive-in type facilities and this leads to the vendors coming back onto already narrow streets, that get further blocked, by vehicles stopping to pick up groceries. Most evident around the Vastrapur area, esp the market opp the Swaminarayan Mandir.
Any Thoughts?
