The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has decided to establish its own design unit for road, bridge and government-building projects, a move aimed at improving technical supervision, reducing dependence on private consultants and lowering design-related costs.
The decision was taken unanimously at a meeting of the AMC Road and Building Committee, according to a report by Sandesh. The proposed unit will provide design and supervision support for infrastructure works undertaken by the civic body, with the stated objective of ensuring that new structures are stronger, more durable and based on a more systematic technical approach.
The move will cover future road, bridge and government-building construction carried out by the municipal corporation. The report said the unit is expected to oversee projects at a higher technical level, although details such as its staffing structure, budget, technical disciplines and operating timeline have not yet been announced.
The committee has also made consultant empanelment mandatory for agencies seeking to work on urban development projects for the AMC. Consultants who are not empanelled will require special permission from the municipal corporation before undertaking work.
Under the new arrangement, the civic body will maintain a formal list of eligible consultants and agencies. The stated purpose is to improve accountability and allow action against consultants or contractors associated with poor-quality work. The report said the rules would make it easier to identify responsibility and initiate punitive measures where deficiencies are found.
The design unit is also intended to reduce the fees paid to external agencies for project design and consultancy. The AMC has previously incurred significant expenditure on design and consultancy for major projects, and the civic body expects an internal technical unit to reduce that financial burden and its reliance on private firms.
The decision places greater responsibility on the AMC’s own technical administration. An internal design unit could allow the corporation to retain project knowledge within the organisation across successive road and bridge works. However, the effectiveness of the arrangement will depend on how the unit is constituted, what technical capacity it receives and how its work is integrated with external consultants, contractors and project departments.
The AMC municipal commissioner has been instructed to implement the project at the earliest. The corporation said the proposed changes are intended to help complete Ahmedabad’s infrastructure projects more quickly and to improve construction quality. Further details on the unit’s formal structure and implementation are expected from the civic administration.
