A Bharatiya Janata Party councillor from Ahmedabad’s Shahpur ward locked the office of an assistant city engineer on October 9, alleging that sewage, water supply and ward-budget works had been delayed despite repeated representations to municipal officials.
Councillor Jitendra Chouhan carried out the lockout at the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation office near the Dudheswar water tank. He said residents of the labour-dominated Shahpur ward frequently complain about drainage and water problems, while several project and councillor-budget works have remained incomplete for six to eight months.
According to Divya Bhaskar’s report, Chouhan said groups of residents regularly approach his office with complaints. He alleged that officials had not acted despite representations made through the municipal committee and to other elected representatives. He demanded that AMC Municipal Commissioner resign if the civic administration was unable to complete the work.
Chouhan also alleged that several roads, footpaths, water-supply systems and drainage works remained unfinished across the ward. He called for a vigilance inquiry into alleged irregularities in road and footpath works and said officials’ assets should be examined. These allegations were made by the councillor and were not independently established in the supplied report.
The confrontation also exposed a dispute over the status of the works. AMC’s ruling-party leader Jashubhai Thakor said officials had provided information on 32 works identified by the councillor, of which 28 had been completed and four remained pending. He said the party would hold an internal coordination meeting to discuss the outstanding issues.
There was a difference in the figures provided by the municipal administration on councillor-budget works. Central Zone Deputy Municipal Commissioner Ramya Bhatt said two of the four works allocated from the councillor’s budget had been completed. She rejected the allegation that officials were not responding and said elected representatives were regularly connected with the administration and the local MLA.
The dispute has taken place within the governing party itself. The report said Chouhan and three other councillors were called for a meeting by city president Prerak Shah after the office was locked. Thakor and party general secretary Umang Nayak were present during the discussion. Thakor said Chouhan had joined the BJP from another party but understood the organisation’s discipline.
Shahpur falls within Ahmedabad’s walled-city area and includes neighbourhoods where basic municipal services such as drainage and water supply have an immediate effect on daily life. The competing accounts over completed and pending works now place the focus on how the AMC records project progress, communicates with councillors and responds to repeated complaints from residents.
The civic administration and the party leadership are expected to review the pending works at an internal coordination meeting. The report did not specify a completion deadline for the remaining projects or announce any formal vigilance inquiry.
