The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has ordered stricter action against construction sites accused of worsening air pollution and directed officials to move roadside vegetable vendors to vacant municipal plots, according to a report on the civic body’s weekly review meeting published by Gujarat Samachar on October 22, 2026.
The directions came as air quality worsened across Ahmedabad, with the report stating that the Air Quality Index remained above 150 in most parts of the city. During the meeting, the Municipal Commissioner sought an explanation for higher pollution levels in the north zone. A deputy commissioner attributed the situation to the larger number of ongoing construction works in the area.
Following the explanation, the Commissioner instructed officials to visit construction sites and ensure that water is sprayed to control dust. Sites that fail to implement the required measures could face action extending to sealing, the report said. The directions place responsibility on civic teams to inspect construction activity and enforce pollution-control requirements at the site level.
The review meeting also addressed the effect of roadside vegetable vending on traffic movement. The Commissioner instructed officials to remove vegetable vendors from roads and shift them to vacant plots in their respective areas. The move was presented as a measure to reduce traffic problems caused by roadside activity.
When a deputy commissioner reportedly said that suitable plots were not available, the Commissioner directed officials to call estate officers from all zones for a meeting. The Commissioner said that several vacant plots owned by the municipal corporation were available across the zones and instructed officials to consider shifting vendors there. The report did not identify the plots or specify a relocation timeline.
The directions raise an immediate administrative question about how Ahmedabad will balance traffic management, public-space regulation and the working needs of vendors. The reported instruction focuses on moving vendors away from roads, but the civic report does not provide details about the proposed locations, access arrangements, basic services or the process through which vendors would be shifted.
The Commissioner also reviewed delayed civic projects and stressed the completion of 100 projects within 100 days. The report did not list the projects, their locations, current completion status or the funding and contracting arrangements involved. The instruction indicates that project delivery was treated as a priority during the weekly review, but further details on monitoring and deadlines were not provided.
Public transport operations were another subject of the meeting. The Commissioner said Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Service buses should stop only at designated bus stands. According to the report, several buses do not halt at their fixed stops, forcing older people, children and women to run onto the road to board them.
To address this, officials were instructed to provide stricter training to drivers and introduce road markings wherever necessary. The directions are intended to make bus boarding more predictable and reduce the need for passengers to approach buses from unsafe positions. The report did not specify the number of affected routes, the locations where markings would be added or the timeline for driver training.
