AMC's development plan to cost IIM-Ahmedabad campus 140 trees

The lush green campus of the country's premier management institute will soon be deprived of 140 trees that are housed on its red-bricked heritage grounds. This comes following the road-widening works under the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation's development plan, which is likely to eat up Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad's boundary wall of both, the campus and the main gate.

The institute's recent survey of the land that will be taken away for road widening revealed that 140 trees will have to be razed. Even as the institute had agreed to give away some part of land of the new campus located towards the Vastrapur end, the civic body's plan for the old campus has become a matter of concern.

It is the traffic congestion at IIM-A crossroads, towards the road on the new campus side, leading the authorities to rethink of a solution to curb the same. The road widening is a part of the Development Plan (DP).

Professor Errol D'Souza, Director, IIM-A said, "According to our survey, the 140 trees cannot be replanted given their sheer size. Also, there are two temples lying on the boundary wall along with a disputed property of an old Xerox shop. We are going to make a representation to the AMC to consider these aspects. There is also a water pipeline running from the same place. While we have agreed for the same, we will have to fight the environment ministry, temples and the shop owner."

Heritage building risky, restoration stuck

"Also, all of this will take few months of time. In principle, we have agreed to give away some part of the land but untill we do that, the AMC will not grant permission for construction on the campus. Unless we have new blocks ready on campus, we cannot move the offices located in the Louis Kahn Plaza, which is at a greater risk. LKP needs immediate restoration," the professor said.

D'Souza said that this is has also got the board worrying. "Safety is our main concern and for that we need to vacate LKP and shift faculty offices to the new building," D'Souza said.

The professor has also met officials from the AMC. And the institute is currently preparing a representation expressing their concerns. "The situation, however, is much better as the AMC earlier wanted to run a road from within the campus."

However, the AMC commissioner Vijay Nehra has refuted any such plans. "There are no such plans. The permission for construction of buildings on the campus is being processed."

IIM-A is spread across 106 acres. It was built in 1961 whereas the new campus was constructed in 2009. The combined total spread of both the campuses is separated by a 132-feet ring road but adjoined by a pedestrian subway. As acquiring new land is an non-viable and expensive proposition, maximising the incumbent space is the only option for the institute.

Interestingly, the flyover, constructed in 2013 by HCP, had made entry to the institute a tad difficult. While the idea was to ease traffic by elevating heavy traffic flows from Vastrapur and AMA road for a smooth movement on the ring road and not disturb the BRTS bus stand, experts felt that the flyover did not really solve the purpose.

Highly placed sources close to the development said, "The road widening will also shift the upcoming School of Public Policy inside by few metres."