The state irrigation department has undertaken the task of facelift of 20-km long open drain in eastern Ahmedabad, called Khari Cut Canal, between Naroda and Vatva into a beautiful water body at a cost of Rs.65-crore.

The canal had become an eyesore due to pollution over the last 15-20 years.

With Chief Minister Narendrabhai Modi himself taking a special interest in the project for a permanent solution to the problem, besides converting it into a corridor of entertainment and relaxation zone, it is proposed to be completed in 18-24 months, according to the department’s executive engineer J. K. Trivedi.

The new-look water body would have surfaced roads and ped-ways on either side of the canal with parapets, 8-km long canal lining, 15 project galleries, upgrade 40 bridges, 10 deck slab kiosks, eight landscaping, gardens, children playgrounds, 70 waste collection centres, 40 waterfalls and fountains, 1,500 decorative lampposts.

In phase-1, the 3-km Naroda to Pushpkunj stretch is proposed to be completed in four months at a cost of Rs.8-crore.

However, Mr. Trivedi said, the project’s biggest challenge is checking the pollution, for which the Irrigation Department has tied up Gujarat Pollution Control Board, even as Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation will plug all sorts of effluents pouring into the Khari Cut Canal in a year.