Ahmedabad civic officials on leave, yet they are working

'Sardar Patel Bhavan', main office of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) at Danapith, may not function at full force because of extended Diwali holidays, but the basic amenities will not be much affected as all the key officials will be available at the service of the people even if they will not be physically present in office.

The civic body has made a detailed manpower plan taking into consideration Diwali holidays. "Festivals, especially Diwali, are a very critical period for us because many fire and burns incidents take place during these days. Moreover, everyone wants leave in this season, so we have to chart out a detailed manpower plan," said Guruprasad Mohapatra, municipal commissioner of Ahmedabad.

Out of a total of eight deputy municipal commissioners in the city,
seven are present in Ahmedabad and will be monitoring the situation. Moreover, key persons in all cadres across all
sections will be available and take charge in case of any emergency, said Mohapatra.

The Fire and Emergency Department of AMC, especially, will be on their toes because of major and minor fire accidents taking place during Diwali.

The municipal commissioner also said that solid waste management and cleaning the streets are major issues now because of people bursting fire crackers. So the civic body has made special arrangements to keep city roads free of garbage and has asked the field level sanitary workers to make alternate arrangements to take care of their areas.

Officials of the health department raided several food joints and sweet shops and street vendors to check quality of food sold in the city during this festive season. The AMC also cleaned roads with water in the surrounding areas of temples.