Discovery of Gujarat Series

By Rotarian Khan Bahadur Sir Mehhbub I Kadiri kt
(The article was originally published in year 1940, here is its reproduction)

To Àhmedahad, the ancient capital of, and now the premier city in Gujarat and the second city in the Bombay Presidency, belongs the credit of being the first town where local people voluntarily came forward to tax themselves for providing civic amenities and formed, along with Government officers, a small committee of four persons, two officials and two non-officials, to manage purely local and civic affairs. This was in the year 1817 A. D. immediately after the surrender of the city to the East India Company by the Gaekwar of Baroda.

It was found that the city was then in a very filthy, insanitary and neglected condition, and, to remove this state of things, providing of funds was necessary. The above mentioned committee imposed octroi duty on the import of ghee, shawls, opium and several other articles and with the funds thus raised, steps were taken to improve the sanitary condition.

The city walls which were originally built by Sultan Ahmed, when he founded the city in 1412, were in a very dilapidated condition. They had fallen down in many places, leaving big gaps, and what was left, stood in need of immediate repairs. The necessity of repairing these was felt from the very beginning of the British rule, and several attempts were made by local officers to induce the Government to take the work in hand. When this was not done for want of necessary funds, sanction was obtained in 1830 A. D. to enhance the octroi duties already levied, the object being to provide money for repairing the city walls. The old committee was continued, and in 1834 the above named committee of four took up the further work of municipal administration. This was the beginning of the Ahmedabad Municipality and to commemorate this event the Municipality celebrated their centenary in 1934. In 1842, the work of repairing the city walls was completed, some surplus of the taxes collected was in hand, and it was proposed, that, after deducting recurring charges for the maintenance of the city walls in a good condition, the surplus should be utilised for providing certain further amenities of which the city stood in great need, these being the supply of water to the city and the watering of the principal thoroughfares to allay the dust nuisance for which the city, otherwise known as Girdabad, was notorious.

This committee functioned till 1858 and carried out important works, such as the city water supply, the maintenance and lighting of roads, the scavenging and sanitary arrangements.

In that year, the old town walls committee was dissolved and a municipal committee with well defined constitutional powers took its place. This committee was established by virtue of Act of 1850, “An act to enable improvements to be made in towns.”

The next important landmark in the growth of the Ahmedabad Municipality was its reconstitution in 1873 under the Bombay District Municipal Act VI of 1873, which superseded Act XXVI of 1850. Under this Act, two classes of municipalities were constituted, the City Municipalities and Town Municipalities. For the former, a minimum population of 10,000 inhabitants and for the latter 2,000 was necessary.

The people of Ahmedahad, even at that remote period, were keen on having the principle of election extended to their municipality, and by a petition dated 21-6-1874 signed by Nagerseth Dahyabhai Motichand and others they prayed that the provisions of section 7 of the District Municipal Act, so far as they related to the introduction of the elective principles, may be made applicable to the city municipality of Ahmedabad, the reasons being:-

“(a) That the system of selection by Government had proved unsatisfactory and

(b) that by the extend and population of this ancient city, by the wealth, commercial enterprise and general intelligence, education, and business habits of the citizens, they had, among them, several persons duly qualified by education, intelligence and public spirit to look after their local municipal affairs.” The petitioners further added “Indeed we should not look upon it, otherwise than as an undeserved reproach to our city if Government, after the legal recognition of the elective principles, refused to extend its application to us, for there must be at least twenty wise and qualified persons in a population of a lac and twenty thousand.”

This earnest prayer of the petitioner was however, politely turned down, and the principle of electing their representatives on the Municipal Board was not extended to it.

In- 1884-85, Lord Ripoi conferred the boon of local self-government on municipalities, and a municipality constituted partly of elected and partly of nominated members, came into existence in Ahmedabad on the 1st January 1885. That, industrial magnate and public benefactor R. B. Ranchhodlal Chhotalal C. I. E., whose oil painting adorns the walls of the Gandhi Hall in the local municipal building, was the first nominated president from 1885 to 1895. During his regime, works of far reaching civic importance were designed and carried out, the most important of these being the water-works and drainage. During the hot months of the year, great scarcity of drinking water used to be felt, and cholera was an annual visitor exacting a toll of hundreds of lives. R. B. Ranchhodlal, with keen foresight, saw that the only way to remove this scourge, was to provide a copious and clean supply of drinking water, but when he put forward his proposal, he met with very strong opposition from the public. The writer very well remembers an incident that occurred when these proposals were discussed at a public meeting held in Tankshal Pole. R. B. Ranchhodlal was not only hissed and hooted down, but stones were thrown at his brougham when he left the meeting, and he had to seek police protection. Inspite of all this opposition, he worked with patience and perseverance, and was eventually able to carry through his proposals in the Municipality. These proposals were sanctioned by Government on the 9th February 1889, and a scheme of providing four supplywells and one jack-well with the necessary pumping and storing arrangement was framed and finally completed in 1891. There were subsequent additions made to meet the requirements of the increased population and at the present day the Dudheshwar Water-Works supply 16,170,000 gallons per day, besides the tubewells at Vadilal Sarabhai Hospital and other places which supply additional 1,600,000 gallons per clay.

After R. B. Ranchodlal Chhotahl, there were five presidents till 1910, when the Municipality was superseded by order of Government. And a committee of management of which Sir Chinubhai Madhavial Bart. was the chairman, functioned up to 1915, in which year the municipality was restored, and the right of electing its own president was given to it. Mr. Bhaishanker Nanabhai, Solicitor, was the first elected President for one year. He was succeeded by R. B. (afterwards Sir) Ramanbhai M. Nilkanth who functioned from 1916 to 1922. Many works of public utility were taken up during this period. He was succeeded by Mr. Vallabhbhai J. Patel who officiated from 1924 to 1928, and in his time, great progress in adding to the water works and extending of drainage to the rest of the walled city was effected. Mr. Vallabhbhai was succeeded by Mr. Daulatram U. Shah who officiated for one year followed by Mr. Mulchand Asharam Shah who worked for a similar period. During this period, the work of asphalting municipal roads was taken in hand, and the first road to be asphalted was from Bhadra to Railway station. It costed Rs. 400,000. Since then asphalting programme has gone till today; nearly all the principal roads and streets of the city have been paved with one or the other kind of asphalt treatment. Even the pols or narrow streets have been taken up for pavement. Thus the dust nuisance is being effectively eradicated from the city and, it is possible now to challenge any one who attempts to make a disparaging reference to the once prevalent dust nuisance in the city. Mr. G. V. Mavalankar was the President from 1930 to 1933. Mr. Balwantrai P. Thakore from 1933 to 1936, and since then Mr. Manual Chaturbhai Shah is the President.

During the last ten years great progress in all directions, Educational, Sanitary, Medical Relief and providing of civic amenities has been made and the administration has evoked commendation from all quarters.

The new city which has sprung up on the western bank of the river is a growth of the last few years. The Municipality town-planned the area and Co-operative Housing Societies were found and what was once nothing but agricultural land came to be built up into a garden suburb.

The latest amenities to be provided are the extension of drainage to the mill suburbs, Vadilal Sarabhai hospital, the Maneklal Jethabhai Library, the Jamalpur Bridge, and the Shahpur Bridge. Proposals for providing an extensive park with a museum and a swimming bath have been sanctioned. Playgrounds for children have been provided. The municipality is opening up, at a huge cost, a road through the most congested parts of the city. In short there is admirable progress all round. Indeed Ahmedabad may be considered to be one of the best managed municipalities in the Bombay Presidency, if not in the whole of India. The phenomenal and accelerated improvement of the city has been made possible by the flourishing financial condition of the Municipality, which in its turn is accounted for by the thriving mill industry. But even this would have remained ineffective but for the high civic sense displayed, and the enlightened and go-ahead policy adopted, by the Municipal Board from time to time, and the conscientious, energetic and effective work of the. Chief Officer, Rotarian I. R. Bhagat.

– DeshGujarat