Twenty years. Forty crore rupees. And Vastrapur Lake still smells. The western Ahmedabad landmark, reopened to visitors just four months ago, is already choked with algae and emitting a foul odour — raising uncomfortable questions about whether the city knows how to restore a waterbody or simply knows how to keep spending on one.
Originally developed in 2002 after clearing slum areas, the lake has become a recurring line item in municipal budgets. A local official acknowledged that what was meant to be a six-month project recently stretched beyond a year. Political circles, according to sources, have begun referring to the lake as a perpetual “development project” site — one that never quite reaches a finished, self-sustaining state. The pattern is familiar. In 2019, a former municipal commissioner stopped sewage inflow and installed a ₹2 crore tertiary treatment plant. The plant failed to deliver effective results. Algae returned. So did the stench. Now, residents walking along the promenade are once again met with green scum and rotten odours — hardly the urban oasis that ₹40 crore over two decades should buy.
Ahmedabad has 156 lakes on official records. A plan to interlink 45 of them through a networked system remains incomplete. Without interlinking, most lakes receive sewage water instead of rainwater — a design flaw that guarantees algal blooms, pollution, and foul smells regardless of how much money is spent on beautification. A water management expert not associated with the project noted that a lake is not a swimming pool; it needs a clean, consistent inflow and outflow to remain healthy. Vastrapur has neither. Rodent infestation has also reportedly caused significant financial losses at the lake in the past — a symptom of poor maintenance regimes that prioritise inauguration ceremonies over daily operations.
For citizens, the Vastrapur story is not just about one lake. It is about a governance model that confuses spending with solving. A tertiary treatment plant that does not treat. A redevelopment that lasts four months. A lake that has become a pension scheme for contractors rather than a lung for the city. What needs attention next is not another beautification tender. It is a honest audit: why, after ₹40 crore and two decades, does Vastrapur Lake still gasp for clean water?
Ahmedabad Spent Rs 40 Cr On Vastrapur Lake Still Stinks
