Crematorium vanishes from TP scheme in Ahmedabad

AHMEDABAD: A community crematorium at Makarba in the city has disappeared, at least on paper. A plot for the crematorium earmarked by the revenue department decades ago has vanished in the civic body's town planning scheme. It seems to have made way for a road, and what is left has been reserved as "sale for commercial purposes".
Locals have now sought a departmental enquiry into how the 3,035 sq m plot reserved for a crematorium does not figure in the "finalized" TP scheme drawn up by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC).
The TP scheme 84/A, with a road line cutting through the plot and the rest reserved for commercial development, was finalized on March 8, 2018, according to a senior TP department official.
However, during a town planning committee meeting this January, officials discussed several objections raised by citizens since 2018 and demanded that the reservation for the crematorium be restored.
Sources in the AMC said the reservation for the crematorium could have been removed as it would have drastically reduced the price of nearby private plots. Former MLA Kishoresinh Chauhan made an official representation regarding the issue.
He told TOI, "A plot which had been reserved for the crematorium did not figure in the current TP scheme, and we demanded a detailed status report."
The issue reached the state urban development department (UDD), which pulled up officials in the AMC over the issue. A senior UDD official said, "What surprised us was that instead of realigning the road and restoring the crematorium plot, the AMC changed the width of the road from 12m to 18m, which was not required at all. This way, if a widened road is realigned and shifted to the side, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation will have to compensate the private plot owners through which the road passes, causing monetary loss."
The official added, "The UDD has pulled up the AMC because its revenue will be affected due to the fracas. The civic body collects betterment charges from plot owners in a TP scheme. If the road is widened, the corporation will have less land to reserve for sale, meaning less land to charge betterment charges."
Following protests from locals, procedures are now being undertaken to realign the existing road so that the total plot area for the crematorium is restored at the same place.
"There is a departmental notice to restore the reservation for the crematorium and realignment of the road line. That the process is being undertaken over a "finalized" TP scheme is rare," says the senior AMC official.