Ahmedabad: Flyover casting a shadow, iconic Mahatma Gandhi statue may soon leave Income Tax junction
Gandhians worry that the Rs 60-crore flyover, 21.5-m wide and 805-m long, will greatly reduce Gandhi statue’s appeal; Pic: Nilkanth Dave/ BCCL
The iconic Gandhi statue at Income-Tax crossroads, witness to several significant agitations over the past five decades including the 1974 Navnirman movement, will soon be overshadowed by a huge flyover here. Concerned, Gandhian institutions and other citizens have set into motion deliberations to shift the statue to an appropriate location. The Rs 60-crore flyover — 21.5-m wide and 805-m long — on Ashram Road that spans from Gujarat Vidyapith to Popular House building will come up over the Income-Tax junction this year.
The institutions have been mulling to write to the AMC chief and meet him to seek relocation of the statue to Dandi Chowk, a more suitable place. Dandi Chowk or Vadaj crossroads is among the routes the Mahatma had taken during the Dandi March in 1930. The Sabarmati Ashram also has plans to install a steel charkha, donated by Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), at the Dandi Chowk. In a letter signed by SEWA chief, noted Gandhian and Ashram trustee Ela Bhatt and Kartikeya Sarabhai have written to heads of all four Gandhian institutions in the city to come to a consensus so that they can approach the municipal commissioner for moving the statue.
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“We felt that the flyover will reduce the significance of the statue and hence this move was proposed. It was decided that the Sabarmati Ashram should take the lead in this initiative and that Elaben Bhatt will write to all the other Gandhian institutes and get a consensus on moving the statue to another appropriate place,” said Gandhi Ashram’s new director Atul Pandya. “Recently we had received a huge steel charkha from the KVIC for the Ashram and felt that Dandi Chowk is a more befitting place to house both the steel charkha and Bapu’s statue.
While the statue is on land owned by AMC it has to ultimately take the decision regarding the statue,” said Gandhi Ashram’s Director Atul Pandya. Pandya added, “It was also felt that the Gandhi statue was inaccessible considering that it is in a high traffic area. This was making it difficult for people to garland the statue or hold any kind of protest here. A move to a more fitting location in lieu of the flyover is needed and the Gandhi Ashram Board felt that Gandhian institutions should take the lead.” Incidentally, a proposal in this regard was also moved by noted Gandhian scholar and former Ashram director Tridip Suhrud during his term.
Even as deliberations have begun between the Gandhian institutions on the way forward, sources said that Jayesh Patel who heads the Safai Vidyalay had also mooted that citizens, too, be allowed to have their say. While discussions were revived this February in the Ashram, all four Gandhian institutions are slated to take a call on this shortly. It is learnt that a letter has been sent to heads of all the Gandhian institutions which include the Gujarat Harijan Sevak Sangh, Safai Vidyalaya, the Ashram Gaushala and Khadi Gramudyog Board apart from the Sabarmati Ashram.
‘This is a good surprise’
Ela Bhatt, one of the signatories, called the planning of the overbridge ‘unfortunate’. She said, “It is rather unfortunate that while planning such an overbridge not much thought was given to the statue but we hope to correct this by intervening at an appropriate time along with other Gandhian institutions. The Vadaj crossroads location is also appropriate because Gandhiji had himself taken the route and the side bridge also points in the same direction. We are happy that Gandhiji is coming closer to us and this is a good surprise.” Incidentally the statue, made by noted sculptor Kantibhai Patel, 97, was installed in 1969 to mark Gandhiji’s birth centenary. Patel, who is ailing and bedridden, was not available for comment.
Meeting scheduled
Speaking to Mirror, AMC Commissioner Mukesh Kumar said, “I will soon have a meeting with the Ashram officials and heads of Gandhian institutions to deliberate on the same.” Eminent Gandhian Prakash N Shah, the honorary director of Acharya Kripalani Adhyayan Kendra at Gujarat Vidyapith, reminisces how the Gandhi statue stood witness to the searing Navnirman movement fought in the state. The movement led by students and the middle-class against corruption and economic crisis had led to the dissolution of the elected government in Gujarat in 1974. Shah says, “The statue will lose its appeal if a flyover comes up. Shifting it to Vadaj crossroads is a viable option as Gandhiji has taken that route for the Dandi march. One of my memories associated with the statue is of poet Umashankar Joshi garlanding it at the height of the Navnirman movement in 1974.”
City will get a new protest point
Debashish Nayak, heritage expert and former advisor to AMC’s heritage programme, said, “Recently, iconic sculptures of Nagjibhai Patel in Vadodara were moved following infrastructure development. Similarly Gandhi’s statue represents people’s right to protest and put their point forward. Sometimes moving a statue to a better place is good and if that happens, perhaps the city’s protest point will also move. The statue should however remain on Ashram road.”
The institutions have been mulling to write to the AMC chief and meet him to seek relocation of the statue to Dandi Chowk, a more suitable place. Dandi Chowk or Vadaj crossroads is among the routes the Mahatma had taken during the Dandi March in 1930. The Sabarmati Ashram also has plans to install a steel charkha, donated by Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), at the Dandi Chowk. In a letter signed by SEWA chief, noted Gandhian and Ashram trustee Ela Bhatt and Kartikeya Sarabhai have written to heads of all four Gandhian institutions in the city to come to a consensus so that they can approach the municipal commissioner for moving the statue.
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“We felt that the flyover will reduce the significance of the statue and hence this move was proposed. It was decided that the Sabarmati Ashram should take the lead in this initiative and that Elaben Bhatt will write to all the other Gandhian institutes and get a consensus on moving the statue to another appropriate place,” said Gandhi Ashram’s new director Atul Pandya. “Recently we had received a huge steel charkha from the KVIC for the Ashram and felt that Dandi Chowk is a more befitting place to house both the steel charkha and Bapu’s statue.
While the statue is on land owned by AMC it has to ultimately take the decision regarding the statue,” said Gandhi Ashram’s Director Atul Pandya. Pandya added, “It was also felt that the Gandhi statue was inaccessible considering that it is in a high traffic area. This was making it difficult for people to garland the statue or hold any kind of protest here. A move to a more fitting location in lieu of the flyover is needed and the Gandhi Ashram Board felt that Gandhian institutions should take the lead.” Incidentally, a proposal in this regard was also moved by noted Gandhian scholar and former Ashram director Tridip Suhrud during his term.
Even as deliberations have begun between the Gandhian institutions on the way forward, sources said that Jayesh Patel who heads the Safai Vidyalay had also mooted that citizens, too, be allowed to have their say. While discussions were revived this February in the Ashram, all four Gandhian institutions are slated to take a call on this shortly. It is learnt that a letter has been sent to heads of all the Gandhian institutions which include the Gujarat Harijan Sevak Sangh, Safai Vidyalaya, the Ashram Gaushala and Khadi Gramudyog Board apart from the Sabarmati Ashram.
‘This is a good surprise’
Ela Bhatt, one of the signatories, called the planning of the overbridge ‘unfortunate’. She said, “It is rather unfortunate that while planning such an overbridge not much thought was given to the statue but we hope to correct this by intervening at an appropriate time along with other Gandhian institutions. The Vadaj crossroads location is also appropriate because Gandhiji had himself taken the route and the side bridge also points in the same direction. We are happy that Gandhiji is coming closer to us and this is a good surprise.” Incidentally the statue, made by noted sculptor Kantibhai Patel, 97, was installed in 1969 to mark Gandhiji’s birth centenary. Patel, who is ailing and bedridden, was not available for comment.
Meeting scheduled
Speaking to Mirror, AMC Commissioner Mukesh Kumar said, “I will soon have a meeting with the Ashram officials and heads of Gandhian institutions to deliberate on the same.” Eminent Gandhian Prakash N Shah, the honorary director of Acharya Kripalani Adhyayan Kendra at Gujarat Vidyapith, reminisces how the Gandhi statue stood witness to the searing Navnirman movement fought in the state. The movement led by students and the middle-class against corruption and economic crisis had led to the dissolution of the elected government in Gujarat in 1974. Shah says, “The statue will lose its appeal if a flyover comes up. Shifting it to Vadaj crossroads is a viable option as Gandhiji has taken that route for the Dandi march. One of my memories associated with the statue is of poet Umashankar Joshi garlanding it at the height of the Navnirman movement in 1974.”
City will get a new protest point
Debashish Nayak, heritage expert and former advisor to AMC’s heritage programme, said, “Recently, iconic sculptures of Nagjibhai Patel in Vadodara were moved following infrastructure development. Similarly Gandhi’s statue represents people’s right to protest and put their point forward. Sometimes moving a statue to a better place is good and if that happens, perhaps the city’s protest point will also move. The statue should however remain on Ashram road.”
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