Ahmedabad, June 4 (IANS) The newly constituted Standing Committee of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), at its first weekly meeting on Thursday, directed officials to complete pothole repairs across the city before the onset of the monsoon and announced tighter monitoring of high-risk locations following the recent water contamination incident in Ghatlodia.

Speaking after the meeting at AMC’s headquarters, Standing Committee Chairman Kamlesh Patel said officials had been instructed to fill all existing potholes within the coming week as the monsoon is expected to arrive in Ahmedabad around June 15.

He added that no new road excavation work would be permitted from Thursday onwards.

Patel said the committee had also reviewed the recent incident in Ghatlodia, where around 50 residents fell ill after drinking contaminated water.

“AMC is currently maintaining surveillance at 26 high-risk locations across the city and has deployed personnel at sites identified through public complaints to enable swift intervention if problems arise,” he said.

Explaining the circumstances of the incident, Patel said a water pipeline had ruptured. During repair work, officials discovered that a drainage line beneath the pipeline was overflowing, allowing contaminated water to enter a storage tank.

Residents who consumed the water subsequently reported health issues. “At present, only one patient is under observation, and all the remaining patients have been discharged,” Patel said.

He stated that while the drainage repair work had been completed by the concerned officials, information warning residents that the contaminated water was unfit for consumption had not been communicated to the public.

“Action will be taken against those responsible for negligence in this matter,” he said.

The committee also approved measures to improve traffic management and remove encroachments.

Patel said a Joint Enforcement Team had been formed to help keep roads clear across Ahmedabad.

As part of the initiative, AMC has decided to hire cranes with manpower support from an agency that works alongside the police department.

The cranes will be deployed for estate department operations, including traffic management and encroachment removal. The civic body will hire the equipment at a rate of Rs 4,600 for an eight-hour shift per zone.

The cranes will be rented for six months at an estimated cost of Rs 12.5 crore, a move AMC officials said is intended to strengthen enforcement operations across the city.

The decisions were among the first major administrative measures taken by the newly formed Standing Committee following its constitution after the recent civic body elections.

–IANS

mys/dan