Ahmedabad Discussions

[GJ10]

Originally Posted by Cosmicbliss

GJ10:

TN doesn't at all fit the one city, one port model that you talk about. In fact on HDI parameters TN is better than GJ. Its more urbanized than MH/GJ. TN may well be as or better placed than Gujarat. Just a thought and nothing to take offence about.

Ive never criticised TN in this regard, I really think TN is doing fantastically well. Please lets not turn this into a State vs State thing, I apologise if it seemed as though thats what I was doing.

Let me clarify, I use Andhra and Karnataka as examples, simply because their pattern of growth is so different to that of Gujarat. Obviously, I am not suggesting that these states are doing badly, or doing things the wrong way, Im just saying its very different to the way Gujarat is doing it.

Indian media has noticed the same difference and tends to criticise Gujarat for it, posters like WallSt also seem to think the same.

Wherever there is a choice of routes, people will have their own preferences, I prefer the route Gujarat has gone down, Indian Media, WallSt and others will prefer the Andhra, Karnataka route.

Everyone is free to have their own preferences, but lets not criticise the economy of one place A for being different to the economy of place B, especially when both place A and B are growing rapidly anyway!

[GJ10]

Originally Posted by bobbie501

I must Disagree with you how would you say that Southern most states are concentrating on just single city,single sector,just a single port just have a look at Vizag[Which has two ports operational] well Industrialized on the east coast,Kakinada[getting another port],Mangalore,Mysore etc etc cities which are well placed with white collar jobs.I must brush up your mind even though gujarat is industalized they don't have enough resource to feed their tummies since most of the grains are grown in Southern States.When you don't have agriculture what's the use of Industrialization?

You are free to disagree, when every state in India is showing positive growth, why do people want to criticise Gujarat for doing things differently to other states?

Yes, I oversimplified with regards to how I described Andhra and Karnataka, but in the same way, do you really think that there is no IT industry in Gujarat or no Gujaratis who speak english? Of course not, this was also an oversimplification.

So please dont get so touchy and defensive.

You may also want to "brush up your mind" regarding the Agricultural Sector in Gujarat

[shreyas1684]

Originally Posted by bobbie501

I must Disagree with you how would you say that Southern most states are concentrating on just single city,single sector,just a single port just have a look at Vizag[Which has two ports operational] well Industrialized on the east coast,Kakinada[getting another port],Mangalore,Mysore etc etc cities which are well placed with white collar jobs.I must brush up your mind even though gujarat is industalized they don't have enough resource to feed their tummies since most of the grains are grown in Southern States.When you don't have agriculture what's the use of Industrialization?

sorry guys i wont extend this topic after this..but i have to say tat whatever GJ wrote is pretty much true...south indian states mostly AP n karnataka (excluding TN) are in reality majorly concentrating on one city one port one sector views. whatever my frnd bobbie wrote in which i might be agree that things r changing there too but until now they were eyein on pretty much one thing policy tats why most of their projects n development r concentrated around one city (Hyderabad- Bangalore) one port (manglore-vizag) and one sector(IT). other ports, cities n sectors r still there but in small percentage (plz dont place any tables bcoz i knw most of different varieties of ur sectors r placed around Hyderabad n Bangalore but between the cities , there is nothing but infinite blank.

in terms of overall development i believe the top three states would be Gujarat Maharashtra and TN..( in which their numbers changes depends on different time period but in border view they stayed consistently in top 3 position) i call other competitors r hariyana, panjab, karnataka, AP, WB, karala.

[AmdavadLoverIndian]

Our narrow minded developers and businessmen of Amdavad

I feel very sorry about our Amdavad when I make following statement

Our builders / real estate developers / architects / planners / designers and our businessmen and all our citizens who purchase the property (residential or commercial) are among the world's most narrow minded people

You can include me also, as I am a 'proud' Amdavadi and part of our Amdavad

The reason is as follows

(1)Worst roads and traffic in the world

*The road designers do not have concept of 'emergency' lane
Take an example of traffic on CG road, (forget Relief road or Gandhi road, I call them roads of a 'big' village) If there is fire on a working day and working time, how long will it take for emergency vehicles to reach the site?

* Because, at all cross roads, there is no space left by our people to allow to pass even a small dog, then how can you expect an emergency rescue vehicle, the size of a city bus, can pass at earliest?

*Because, all roads are encroached by street vendors, fully supported by 'hafta khau' police - even a pedestrian does not have enough room to walk on side walk (foot path) and, along with those pedestrians, the road is illegally occupied / controlled by those street vendors and pedestrians forcefully walking on roads

*Because, all roads are encroached by auto rickshaws 'waiting' for passenger - in fact, they are not waiting, but just 'passing' time by drinking tea (from nearby illegal street vendor) while sitting in their own auto rickshaw and thus blocking the passing traffic

*Over all - ALL our roads (yes, 100%, without ANY exception) which should serve as blood lines and nerve linesof our city, are clot by cholesterol of illegal street vendors, improperly parked vehicles, forced pedestrians walking on roads, thus, leaving hardly 20 to 40% of actual road space designed for beneficiaries (actual vehicular traffic)

*AMTS and Gujarat State Transport drivers are most undisciplined drivers, and responsible for 70% or more chaos in city. Stop and observe for five minutes on any road, or, for example, on middle of any bridge across river Sabarmati – all bridges have two lanes in each direction. And these drivers, without exception, always drive on the marking line of two lanes, that is, they cover both lanes partly and thus not allow any four wheeler to pass. Their right side is open (space for a two wheeler) but nobody will dare to drive there, and, on their left side, just enough space to pass a two-wheeler. That means, until the ST or AMTS bus cross the bridge, no four wheeler can pass beyond them....
They feel that all the bridges and roads are built only for them (‘apne baap ka hai’ – sorry to use bad words)!!! And, this is true for any road...
Also, at all bus stops, they always stop their buses in the middle of the road, covering both lanes, and not allowing anybody to pass except two- wheeler passing one by one...
For problems at bus stops, add auto rickshaws stopped there for passengers, and of course, five to ten street vendors and 'patharna walas' are always there to claim their right of 'rojee roti'

*Illegal parking - ever seen a 'shethani' going for shopping with car and chauffer ('driver')?
That Amdavadi shethani orders her 'driver' to stop anywhere, she gets down from car in front of any shop she wants, and then tells driver to wait for her.... And that driver also, without bothering for other traffic, sits in the car, on side of a road, thus covering one lane of traffic (out of two lanes) ... the net result is that half of the road is blocked...

These are few examples ... if we sum up, all the AMTS and ST bus drivers, street vendors and patharna walas, auto rickshaw walas, those shethanis, corrupt traffic police and toooooo much tolerant people of Amdavad without civic sense to properly drive the vehicles are responsible for the worst and most indiscipline traffic of our Amdavad

(2) Next, parking problem - the builders and businessmen

Let me start with brief and finger-tip calculation for parking requirements in a commercial place

My fair assumption for office space is as follows

For any office space, roughly one employee per 100 sq ft space (there can be plus or minus 20% variation). So, for an office building of, say, 20,000 sq ft (the whole building) there can be approx 200 persons working full time.. let us fairly assume, approx 25% have car, 50% have two wheeler and 25% use public transportation
So, we end up with parking requirement of 50 cars and 100 two wheelers. Add to this, parking space for business visitors, I will take it as 20% extra ... so we will need parking space for about 60 cars and 120 two-wheelers
In our Amdavad, can you show me even one office building with this much parking space?

NO

Our narrow minded builders never provide enough parking spaces

Next, still, our businessmen and so called national and multinational companies keep on buying such office space without enough parking spaces ... they never think even once where their employees will park their vehicles !!!!!
Even a CEO sitting in his office on CG road never thinks where his 100 employees will park their vehicles ... and that (successful !!!) CEO is planning for 100s of crores of business !!!!!!!

The commercial establishments with retail shopping require even more parking space ... but ....

Take example of CG road, the space approved as parking space in those commercial buildings, was sold
for retail business.... and our Amdavadi businessmen also purchased those illegal retail spaces because those illegal retail spaces were sold about 10 to 20% cheaper than legal space in the same building !!!!!!!
And after few years, by paying some 'impact fee', they were converted to legal commercial space.....
And where is the parking space? It is all gone. The net result is, the CG road, which can be wide enough for four lanes in each direction, is now only two lanes in each direction, resulting in worst traffic....
Still, our city planners, who carved parking space from road and margin area of the buildings, proudly say that they have built 'world class' road with parking space ....
Dear city planners and engineers, it is not result of planning, but it is result of 'mili bhagat' of all of you
corrupt builders and city engineers..... It is a shame ……

Next, our 'high rise' apartments ('flats')
A family purchasing Rs.20 lakh two bedroom flat, I assume that the family can easily afford a car (even a
'second hand' or used car of Rs. 1 to 2 lakh) and at least one two- wheeler
A little big family in three bedrooms flat, either two cars and two two-wheelers or at least one car and two two-wheelers...
Now, all our Amdavadi friends, do you ever ask for your allotted parking space when you buy a flat?
I am sure, in 90% residential schemes, there are not enough parking spaces, and everyday there is 'fighting' among residents about parking their vehicles.....

Forget some space for children to play ... And what, if there is some function at your home and you have 20 guests in need of parking for 10 cars? .... (sign board everywhere 'visitors must park their vehicles out of gate only')
Parking for guests / visitors in a residential high rise project? .... just forget it, you will not find even one in our Amdavad...

Why we are so much narrow minded?

Can we do one thing?

Whenever we plan to buy a commercial or residential property, can we confirm enough parking spaces BEFORE WE BUY PROPERTY WORTH 10 LAKH TO FEW CRORES?

If all of us insist on enough parking space before buying any property, only then those narrow minded builders, and our so called great architects will ever think of it...

As long as we keep on buying, they will keep on building real estates without enough parking ....

I am requesting all my fellow readers who keep on posting pictures and details of new projects here, please also include information about number of residential / office / retail units or space in the project, and mention whether enough parking space is provided or not ....

Let me give example of Shivalik group's projects posted by our friend Shreyas .... I can see only two to five car
parking space in front of a four storey office building where approx 50 or so people will be permanently working...
And where is parking space for them or their business visitors?..

I have written this, because, as an Amdavad Lover, I feel so sorry for our own Amdavad ... that I had to bring out my anger on our own people ...

Please note, I am not 'anti-Amdavadi' in my wildest dream, but I am very much proud and lover of our Amdavad... And at the same time, feel very sorry for present scenario about traffic and parking problems, and this is the reason why I have written this .....

All of us, let us try to make our Amdavad worth livable ... I am part of it..... always....

Sincerely yours....

AmdavadLoverIndian

[dhim100]

You are so right. I know exactly what you are saying. A few years back I traveled from AMD airport to the AMD-Baroda Expressway. Since you are from A'bad you know which road I had traveled on (because I don't know the name of the road). I had a horrible experience. It was just pandemonium. I can't even describe the chaos.

[SimplyGujju]

Dear AmdavadLoverIndian!
You made me register today and post a reply in this forum... I'm completely agree with you about the condition of our ambdavad... You have clearly defined the problems in Amdavad... I just want to add why what all are the causes of this problems and what we can do to solve them.

Causes of these problems are many like over population, insufficient education, greediness, lack of strict laws, corruption etc etc. Also it's simple demand and supply rule, city has limited supply of land and demand is overwhelming. So such things were bound to happen and same things will happen in future too. Problems of traffic and parking are not only in our Ahmedabad, even cities like New York, Boston, Chicago have same problems. They also don't have enough space for parking and roads very conjusted in the city.

Now we have to find a solution... We can't resolve the root causes but the problem of parking space and small roads can be resolved by other simple solution which is nothing but encouraging the use of public transportation. People in major cities of USA/UK/Singapore and other developed contries use public transportation regularly even if they have 2/3 cars. As you have mentioned that generally in office 75% own car/two wheeler and remaining 25% use public transportation. People need to reverse this ratio, 75% should use public transportation. Definately that will be possible only if our public transportation system is efficient. Anyway, government has taken a right step by implementing BRTS in the city. And we have witnessed the first milestone today. I understand that we can't change people of the city, but we can definately influence our family and friends. If we start from there, we can make our Ahmedabad more greener and even more enjoyable over the time. I'm very optimistic about the coming days when BRTS will become part of routine life of my fellow amdavadis.

[The Patel]

You guys remind me of an Episode from Tarak Mehta's ka Olta Chasma... Where Jetha bhai tells Daya(His wife)... Amdavadi ko koi Oolo nahi bana sakta...lol... Amdavad is a great city and people are full of talent and knowledge. Unfortunatlely, Ahmedavad, Baroda etc don't get much attention from NCP and their allians due to heavy Bajapa politics. They know that if Gujarati's get into any business they will take it to the hightest level in international market.

All I can say is Garvi Gujarat !!!!

[tapsboy]

Can we guys instead start posting pictures of the newly built structures of Ahmedabad instead of debating on political issues?

This forum is meant for that

[Wallst]

Our narrow minded developers and businessmen of Amdavad

Sorry but I have to disagree with you on this! They are not narrow minded! They have vision, solid vision of how to loot Amdadavadi!

Parking space is very limited in commercial and residential area and simple reason is this space will not generate any money to builder unless he include that price to buyer's final price.

Now Amdavadi Buyers like you and me will say why should I pay for parking hell with it, I will manage so give me my flat or shop just like that. So end of the day we are looser. Builder made his money, AMC officers & Politician made money. Its you and me will search for parking all day!

see What happened to Bopal? Entire residential area was created without any planning/permission and now they have hard time to fix the problem.

I assume that will happen again in this area call New CG Road. (Oh yea, its Ranip-Sabaramati-D cabin area can't be CG road), construction is happening left and right but heard no proper plan for water and waste management.


Remember this is India, Planning comes very last in our list. Till now enjoy this so called Mega city success story. I am still not sold to those 70-80L Rs flat in Vastrapur. Its fake like Gandhi Family.

[AmdavadLoverIndian]

I post this here, because, it is related to projects of our Amdavad

The so called 'Mall' of our Amdavad

When I visited Amdavad in Jan 2006 (no visit after that .... love and miss everything Amdavad has), I was surprised to see so many 'malls' popping up everywhere and visited few of them and again totally disappointed

Disappointed, because, in building those ‘malls’, not only Amdavadis, but builders from all over India are involved, including ‘big’ national level construction companies

How it all started?

Way back, our Amdavad, for retail shopping, was mostly Gandhi Road, Relief Road, and an entire stretch from Kalupur Station up to Lal Darwaja, mostly small shops owned by family (family business), with some wholesale cloth markets

Then, in 70s and 80s, as the economy expanded, there was need for more retail spaces, and Ashram Road was not enough for retail as it housed number of offices, theaters, residences, colleges and so on

As a result, the area from Swastik Char Rasta to ‘Shilp’ char rasta (around Navarangpura Muni Market), which was occupied as individual bungalows, slowly started transforming in to cluster of ‘small shopping centres’. Typically it was an old bungalow on about 600 to 2,000 sq mt plot which was demolished, and shopping centre was built upon it. Typically, it had ‘parking on ground floor’, shops on first floor and on second and third floor housed offices.

The parking was sold as illegal retail space, and I have already mentioned it somewhere else, so do not want to elaborate it here

So, typically, that one shopping centre ended up with about 10 to 20 shops of around 400 to 800 sq ft each, on two floors, and the remaining floors were occupied by small offices of 400 to 800 sq ft

And it flourished for more than two decades …. in to 21st century until, no more old bungalows were available for such project on entire CG Road

The economy kept on flourishing, and since 2000, a new trend of SHOPPING MALL was brought up by our great builders

Still, for such a project, the required land / plot of 10,000 to 20,000 sq mt was never available in Amdavad

So what the construction companies did is, they outright purchased whole ‘societies’ of either flats or tenements, demolished the old structure and ‘created’ their required plot size
And they built ‘big shopping mall’ there, not one or two, but dozens of them in last six to eight years…..

And I was laughing first on myself, my friends and relatives and my Amdavadi people who proudly call them ‘big shopping malls’

For me, and anybody who has visited outside Amdavad and India, our Amdavadi Malls are just a joke

They are nothing more than bigger version of ‘shopping center’ of CG RoadLet me give an example of a Shopping Mall

I am sure, many of our friends reading and contributing to this forum, must have visited shopping malls outside our country

Let us take an example of a ‘typical shopping mall’ of Bangkok

Let us be specific, “The Mall” at Bang Khae, in Bangkok, Thailand

That mall has following features, if I do not forget – the actual figures may be more, but not less, as I have given very conservative estimate of size, because, I could not find actual size of it

(1) The main retail shopping store named “The Mall” – it occupies almost 50,000 sq ft or more on each floor, total five floors, approx 2,50,000 sq ft

(2) Add to this, an equal space (2,50,000 sq ft) occupied by other individual retailers (each 500 to 5,000 sq ft/shop)

(3) Add to this, a food court, with about more than 40 vendors and sitting capacity of more than 300 persons at a time (guess floor area yourself)

(4) Add, more than 20 restaurants (franchise like KFC / Pizza Hut, and some reputed local restaurants each with more than 3,000 sq ft)

Wait, it has many more features

(5) Add to this, a bowling alley with 32 alleys, yes, I repeat, thirty two alleys

(6) Add to this, an entire floor (approx 1,00,000 sq ft) occupied by children play area – having number of rides similar to our Essel World in Mumbai

Hold your breath friends

(7)Add to this, 8 theaters, yes, no typing mistake EIGHT Theaters (managed by SF Cinema City)

NOT ENOUGH

(8) The top floor / terrace, is occupied by a water park ( size? … typical Amdavad water park minus ‘wave pool’)

WAIT, Still, hold your breath,

(9) IN ADDITION, an area, approx equivalent to that of total retail shopping area, is constructed and allocated for parking IN THE SAME BUILDING……
Yes, thousands of cars parking, on total six floors

And, EVERYTHING INCLUDED IN ONE BUILDING, EVERYTHING UNDER ONE ROOF ……..

Yes, I will call this a Mall

Let me provide some real pics of this particular mall, so that people who cannot imagine what I am talking will have an idea

Note: Please look at first pic, you will see a water slide on terrace water park and have an idea of how big it is




The second pic is 'Event Hall' on ground floor surrounded by those samll / individual retailers on all floors









This last pic is INSIDE that big mall, the retail chain also named 'The Mall' (I have mentioned it in above description as (1)




Now let us compare, the Malls of our Amdavad …

I repeat, they are modified/little bigger versions of shopping centers of CG Road, and nothing more ….

Our ‘Malls’ are designed to accommodate 50 to 100 individual civil construction of shops (as compared to 10 to 20 of CG Road) in one building, given on rent to individuals.

In fact, those retailers on CG Road have survived and will survive, because, they OWN their shops. Whereas, in these Amdavadi Malls, the retailer is only a tenant, and he/she has to pay hefty rent plus service charges every month….

And looking at economy of our Amdavad, they have very few actual customers, and you can actually see on average only 50 to 70% occupancy in these malls. That is why, most people visiting these malls, see every time a new vendor in place of the old one …. Most of them making losses


Let me continue with the Bangkok Mall example … the same mall has renovation budget of almost Rs.100 crore, in Dec 2008, to be implemented in one year. And, that mall has 100,000 visitors every day … I repeat … average one lakh visitors per day, open 365 days !!!!! After the renovation, they expect 10% rise in visitors ….. And this is called business …..

And Bangkok has dozens of such Malls ……. where are we?

I have one more pic of another mall which is under construction in Thailand – almost 400 km north of Bangkok – Khon Kaen with population around 10,00,000 (ten lakh only)




Please look at the size of surrounding roads and cars, so that you will have an idea about actual size of the mall

As long as we live in our own dream world, sure, we are happy, with whatever we have in life, nothing wrong in it

But I feel sorry when we start taking proud and calling what we have is the best in the world

It is not true

We are, as Amdavad, nowhere near to real mega cities of the world

And back to square one, our narrow minded builders and city planners …….
If we dream big, only then we can achieve big

Let us start dreaming BIG

If not by us, sure, our next generation will make them a reality, provided we share our dreams with them

And my post here is to share my big dream with everybody

It is not that we cannot do it, look at our great Sardar Sarovar project, it makes all of us proud in the world …. It came up, only because we dreamed big ….

And now, it is time for development of our cities by dreaming big …… Roads, public transportation, parking, civic sense, street lights, storm water drainage, cleanliness, along with industrial and educational / social development resulting in boost to growth, making our dreams come true

Together, let us make our Amdavad worth livable …. I am part of it

Your friend in this forum

AmdavadLoverIndian

[shohm]

When did malls became benchmark of development!! Grow up!!ohno:

Originally Posted by AmdavadLoverIndian

I post this here, because, it is related to projects of our Amdavad

The so called 'Mall' of our Amdavad

When I visited Amdavad in Jan 2006 (no visit after that .... love and miss everything Amdavad has), I was surprised to see so many 'malls' popping up everywhere and visited few of them and again totally disappointed

Disappointed, because, in building those ‘malls’, not only Amdavadis, but builders from all over India are involved, including ‘big’ national level construction companies

How it all started?

Way back, our Amdavad, for retail shopping, was mostly Gandhi Road, Relief Road, and an entire stretch from Kalupur Station up to Lal Darwaja, mostly small shops owned by family (family business), with some wholesale cloth markets

Then, in 70s and 80s, as the economy expanded, there was need for more retail spaces, and Ashram Road was not enough for retail as it housed number of offices, theaters, residences, colleges and so on

As a result, the area from Swastik Char Rasta to ‘Shilp’ char rasta (around Navarangpura Muni Market), which was occupied as individual bungalows, slowly started transforming in to cluster of ‘small shopping centres’. Typically it was an old bungalow on about 600 to 2,000 sq mt plot which was demolished, and shopping centre was built upon it. Typically, it had ‘parking on ground floor’, shops on first floor and on second and third floor housed offices.

The parking was sold as illegal retail space, and I have already mentioned it somewhere else, so do not want to elaborate it here

So, typically, that one shopping centre ended up with about 10 to 20 shops of around 400 to 800 sq ft each, on two floors, and the remaining floors were occupied by small offices of 400 to 800 sq ft

And it flourished for more than two decades …. in to 21st century until, no more old bungalows were available for such project on entire CG Road

The economy kept on flourishing, and since 2000, a new trend of SHOPPING MALL was brought up by our great builders

Still, for such a project, the required land / plot of 10,000 to 20,000 sq mt was never available in Amdavad

So what the construction companies did is, they outright purchased whole ‘societies’ of either flats or tenements, demolished the old structure and ‘created’ their required plot size
And they built ‘big shopping mall’ there, not one or two, but dozens of them in last six to eight years…..

And I was laughing first on myself, my friends and relatives and my Amdavadi people who proudly call them ‘big shopping malls’

For me, and anybody who has visited outside Amdavad and India, our Amdavadi Malls are just a joke

They are nothing more than bigger version of ‘shopping center’ of CG RoadLet me give an example of a Shopping Mall

I am sure, many of our friends reading and contributing to this forum, must have visited shopping malls outside our country

Let us take an example of a ‘typical shopping mall’ of Bangkok

Let us be specific, “The Mall” at Bang Khae, in Bangkok, Thailand

That mall has following features, if I do not forget – the actual figures may be more, but not less, as I have given very conservative estimate of size, because, I could not find actual size of it

(1) The main retail shopping store named “The Mall” – it occupies almost 50,000 sq ft or more on each floor, total five floors, approx 2,50,000 sq ft

(2) Add to this, an equal space (2,50,000 sq ft) occupied by other individual retailers (each 500 to 5,000 sq ft/shop)

(3) Add to this, a food court, with about more than 40 vendors and sitting capacity of more than 300 persons at a time (guess floor area yourself)

(4) Add, more than 20 restaurants (franchise like KFC / Pizza Hut, and some reputed local restaurants each with more than 3,000 sq ft)

Wait, it has many more features

(5) Add to this, a bowling alley with 32 alleys, yes, I repeat, thirty two alleys

(6) Add to this, an entire floor (approx 1,00,000 sq ft) occupied by children play area – having number of rides similar to our Essel World in Mumbai

Hold your breath friends

(7)Add to this, 8 theaters, yes, no typing mistake EIGHT Theaters (managed by SF Cinema City)

NOT ENOUGH

(8) The top floor / terrace, is occupied by a water park ( size? … typical Amdavad water park minus ‘wave pool’)

WAIT, Still, hold your breath,

(9) IN ADDITION, an area, approx equivalent to that of total retail shopping area, is constructed and allocated for parking IN THE SAME BUILDING……
Yes, thousands of cars parking, on total six floors

And, EVERYTHING INCLUDED IN ONE BUILDING, EVERYTHING UNDER ONE ROOF ……..

Yes, I will call this a Mall

Let me provide some real pics of this particular mall, so that people who cannot imagine what I am talking will have an idea

Note: Please look at first pic, you will see a water slide on terrace water park and have an idea of how big it is




The second pic is 'Event Hall' on ground floor surrounded by those samll / individual retailers on all floors









This last pic is INSIDE that big mall, the retail chain also named 'The Mall' (I have mentioned it in above description as (1)




Now let us compare, the Malls of our Amdavad …

I repeat, they are modified/little bigger versions of shopping centers of CG Road, and nothing more ….

Our ‘Malls’ are designed to accommodate 50 to 100 individual civil construction of shops (as compared to 10 to 20 of CG Road) in one building, given on rent to individuals.

In fact, those retailers on CG Road have survived and will survive, because, they OWN their shops. Whereas, in these Amdavadi Malls, the retailer is only a tenant, and he/she has to pay hefty rent plus service charges every month….

And looking at economy of our Amdavad, they have very few actual customers, and you can actually see on average only 50 to 70% occupancy in these malls. That is why, most people visiting these malls, see every time a new vendor in place of the old one …. Most of them making losses


Let me continue with the Bangkok Mall example … the same mall has renovation budget of almost Rs.100 crore, in Dec 2008, to be implemented in one year. And, that mall has 100,000 visitors every day … I repeat … average one lakh visitors per day, open 365 days !!!!! After the renovation, they expect 10% rise in visitors ….. And this is called business …..

And Bangkok has dozens of such Malls ……. where are we?

I have one more pic of another mall which is under construction in Thailand – almost 400 km north of Bangkok – Khon Kaen with population around 10,00,000 (ten lakh only)




Please look at the size of surrounding roads and cars, so that you will have an idea about actual size of the mall

As long as we live in our own dream world, sure, we are happy, with whatever we have in life, nothing wrong in it

But I feel sorry when we start taking proud and calling what we have is the best in the world

It is not true

We are, as Amdavad, nowhere near to real mega cities of the world

And back to square one, our narrow minded builders and city planners …….
If we dream big, only then we can achieve big

Let us start dreaming BIG

If not by us, sure, our next generation will make them a reality, provided we share our dreams with them

And my post here is to share my big dream with everybody

It is not that we cannot do it, look at our great Sardar Sarovar project, it makes all of us proud in the world …. It came up, only because we dreamed big ….

And now, it is time for development of our cities by dreaming big …… Roads, public transportation, parking, civic sense, street lights, storm water drainage, cleanliness, along with industrial and educational / social development resulting in boost to growth, making our dreams come true

Together, let us make our Amdavad worth livable …. I am part of it

Your friend in this forum

AmdavadLoverIndian

[AmdavadLoverIndian]

Dear Shohm

I never believe that a shopping mall is benchmark of development
And, I am a very well grown-up person, please take it easy

Only thing what I wanted to mention is,

We are living in our dream world, most people never know what is real world and when we think that we have achieved something, it is not true... the reality is totally different

What ever civil structure we call Big Shopping Mall in Amdavad, is NOT really a big shopping mall - it is just a big shopping centre with 50 to 100 individual rental shops only, nothing more

This is what I wanted to say - I repeat - I do not relate it to development

Take it easy ..... my friend

[GJ10]

Still a little bit unsure as to which thread this goes into...

Godrej, Adani Townships on City Outskirts - updated link

Townships are being called the next level in housing, a whole new living environment around the metros. Now, Ahmedabad is about to move into that space. Three new projects from infrastructure powerhouses — Godrej Properties, Adani Group and Saumya Constructions — are set to get the government nod for township on the outskirts of the city.

2007 township policy revised
The three locations chosen first up are tracts at Jetalpur off SG Highway by Godrej, behind Science City by Adanis, and near Shilaj by Saumya Constructions. The projects are being developed under the urban development department’s new township policy, which awaits the state government’s approval.

“The township policy is ready. I’ll put my signature on it in two days,” state urban development minister Nitin Patel told AM on Monday. The new policy is a revised version of the one introduced in 2007 by then minister I K Jadeja.

Sources said apart from the three immediate projects, which will get the green signal in one month of the policy coming into effect, others lined up are promoted by real estate giants DLF, Raheja Group, Unitech, Parshvanath and Sahara Group.

The townships will be unlike usual housing schemes in their sheer size — each built on 50-plus acres, consisting of at least 1,000 dwellings (bungalows and flats), with the developer ploughing in upwards of Rs 2,000 crore.

They will come with a school within, one or more malls, office and business areas, hospital, entertainment zone, a lake perhaps and all necessary infrastructure including roads, water supply etc a la Amby Valley and glitzy DLF estates in Gurgaon.

The Godrej Properties township near Jetalpur, 10 km from Thaltej, will be built on a sprawling 100 acres. Called Godrej Garden City, the project is going to cost Rs 5,000 crore with a built-up area of 30 million sq foot, sources said. There is no word yet on when it will begin and how long it will take to complete.

The Adani project behind Science City, promoted by Adani Properties, will cost Rs 2,000 crore according to current estimates. The third big one, Applewood, by Saumya Constructions near Shilaj on way to Thol lake, will be spread across 40 acres and cost over Rs 1,500 crore, sources said.

Godrej Garden City is the project that has been selected as a pioneer project by the Bill Clinton Climate Change Initiative, aiming to be Carbon Neutral, really looking forward to seeing that one come into fruition... as well as the other ones of course!

[dnkumar]

Did not find exact place to post this but Guys,

Have you heard of the AUDA freeze on new construction in ghuma/shela/manipur villages due to new town planning ? It came as a small news article somewhere but do not know the actual impact as yet.

[Wallst]

Originally Posted by dnkumar

Did not find exact place to post this but Guys,

Have you heard of the AUDA freeze on new construction in ghuma/shela/manipur villages due to new town planning ? It came as a small news article somewhere but do not know the actual impact as yet.

OMG! What will happen now? Will I ever able to buy my dream home in Bopal-Ghuma-Manipur? Can you guide us? What impact will come on Ahmedabad Real Estate Market? Please help us..

[dnkumar]

If you are the one who are thinking about inevsting, you are least affected compared to the one who has investment there - especially in land and not sure how the TP roads will pass through.
Not only the road may pass through your land/property, even if it passed through another part of the scheme, the builder would charge you a 20% of the loss he makes in giving the land to government.
I checked on auda.org site and it shows a single page of villages which TP is in process and nothing else - my question here being,why no news in any national/local news paper and why don't Auda define what is the objective of the new TP and guide line for what size/type of roads will come up and within what time?
Mean while ,rule of thumb being - don't invest until TPs are defined and if you aer alerady invested, try build something on that land and try make as much union with your neighbours.

[GJ10]

New Realty Boom - 3000 Homes coming up in Ahmedabad - Gandhinagar

Ahmedabad: If you are planning to buy a house or apartment, this is the right time to do so. With Kamurta — a period considered inauspicious for doing anything important — ending on January 14, realty giants are all set to rock the city. They are coming up with as many as 3,000 new dwelling units, involving an estimated investment of Rs400-500 crore.

Top realty consultants in the city said that around 40-odd schemes will be launched in different parts of Ahmedabad as well as Gandhinagar.

“Many developers were waiting for the right time to launch their residential projects,” said Hitesh Shah of Space Management Ltd, a realty consultant company. “Most of these are apartment schemes with units priced anywhere between Rs10 lakh and Rs1.20 crore.”

Although the demand is more from the middle income group, the most affordable price band for them will remain Rs35 lakh to Rs50 lakh for housing units in western Ahmedabad. This may be beyond the budget of many but that is no reason to worry.

“Builders will be offering relatively cheaper homes too,” Shah said. “These will come up mainly in eastern Ahmedabad, near the ring road periphery.”

Most housing projects are expected to come up in areas such as South Bopal, Ambli road, Shilaj, Prahladnagar, some parts of Vejalpur, Gota, Ranip, Adalaj and Kudasan near Gandhinagar. In eastern Ahmedabad, housing projects are expected in Nikol, Vastral and Naroda among other areas.

CMD of City Estate Management, Pravin Bavadiya, said that most of the new housing schemes will come up in the West and the New West zones of the city.

“There will be fewer affordable units in these areas because land prices here are very high,” he said. “But this is also the reason why some schemes will be launched in the eastern parts of the city. These housing projects will cater to the middle income group.”

The 30-40 projects that are ready for launch post-Uttrayan, includes those that some developers had called off earlier. These are being re-launched.

Explaining the current situation in the city’s realty sector, Gujarat Institute of Housing and Estate Developers (GIHED) president, Suresh Patel, said that of the housing schemes scheduled for launch in Ahmedabad, 20% are re-launch of old projects.

[desiguy66]

not completely related, but it talks about Ahmedabad...

someone should post this on "A Nation on the March" thread in BR

Edit: link fixed

[SimplyGujju]

Hyperlink is not pointed to the target article... Please update/edit/repost...

[GJ10]

Originally Posted by SimplyGujju

Hyperlink is not pointed to the target article... Please update/edit/repost...

Im guessing u were referring to the November article, re Godrej, Adani Townships, if so, the link has now been updated.