Gujarat: Flyover inaugurated by Shah overshadows Gandhi statue at popular protest site

Sabarmati Ashram director Atul Pandya, said, “It was the Ashram’s idea initially to shift the statue, and we gathered support from other Gandhian institutions and wrote to the AMC.”

The statue, has been often associated with major social and political movements, including the Navnirman Movement that led to the downfall of the incumbent Congress government in the state. It seemed fitting to shift the iconic statue to Dandi chowk, which is metres away from the Sabarmati Ashram where Gandhi began his salt satyagraha, the Dandi march. Gandhi had proceeded towards Dandi from his Ashram, on this route.

“The AMC’s role is limited to providing the land. The rest – design, development, shifting and installation – was to be undertaken by us,” Pandya said. “As this year is Gandhi’s 150th birth centenary, the government granted money too.”
Subsequently, architect Neelkanth Chhaya, coordinator of the Architectural Documentation work of the Gandhi Heritage Sites Mission, designed the circle that would include a base over which the statue was to be erected. “After running through many, many iterations, the design is complete,” Chhaya said.

But tender is yet to be issued to undertake the design.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Kartikeya Sarabhai, Director of Centre for Environment Education, who has been coordinating with the AMC, outlined a tentative deadline. “We expect to go out with the tenders within a week. We would like to have the statue shifted and installed before Gandhi Jayanti this year (October 2),” said Sarabhai. “In case we face any difficulty, we will first shift the statue from I-T circle and keep it at the (Sabarmati) Ashram tentatively and then take it to the new site,” he added.

Ela Bhatt, Chancellor of Gujarat Vidyapith, expressed concern that despite the inauguration, the statue remains where it was. Bhatt said, “It has been a positive response from AMC. But it should have been ensured that the statue was shifted before construction of the flyover began.”

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