Ahmedabad’s selection as host city for the 2030 Commonwealth Games should have been a moment of civic pride. Instead, it exposes the uncomfortable truth that the city, in its present state, is nowhere near ready to shoulder an international event of this scale. The gap between the celebratory rhetoric and the lived reality of Ahmedabad’s civic infrastructure is so wide that only a sustained, time‑bound overhaul can bridge it—and even that will require political will of a kind we have not seen in years.
The most basic functions of urban governance have been compromised. Roads cave in with frightening regularity—two hundred collapses this year alone, each one a reminder of the absence of engineering supervision and the dominance of politically connected contractors. Resurfacing is done as if it were a ritual, not a technical process, and the result is predictable: waterlogging, accidents, and financial losses for ordinary citizens. The city’s engineers, appointed on 11‑month contracts, cannot be expected to enforce standards against entrenched interests. This is not a personnel problem; it is a structural failure.
The same neglect is visible in waste management. Twelve years after the launch of Swachh Bharat, Ahmedabad still struggles with segregation at source and continues to dump waste indiscriminately. Water management fares no better. The absence of metering has encouraged reckless extraction of groundwater, allowing affluent neighbourhoods to enjoy treated water while middle‑class and lower‑income households face chronic shortages. A city officially ranked as India’s second least climate‑resilient cannot afford such mismanagement. Metering of sewage water, too, is essential if Ahmedabad is serious about sustainability.
Nothing illustrates the city’s failures more starkly than the Sabarmati. Despite crores spent over the years, the river remains one of the most polluted in the country, declared “dead” by the Gujarat High Court. Technical solutions exist, but they require commitment, transparency, and a willingness to confront industrial polluters rather than divert their waste into the sea—a practice that is environmentally indefensible and morally untenable.
Public transport, meanwhile, is a study in contradiction. Ahmedabad boasts AMTS, BRTS, and now a Metro Rail system, yet private vehicles dominate the roads, choking the city with traffic, pollution, and heat. Four hundred people die in road accidents every year. Metro stations have been built without adequate parking, a planning failure so basic that it defies comprehension. If necessary, surrounding land should be acquired with fair compensation; delay will only deepen the crisis. The bus system, too, is inadequate for a city of this size. A regulated private‑operator model—similar to the airline sector—could introduce accountability and improve service quality, reducing dependence on private vehicles and easing pressure on roads, fuel consumption, and air quality.
Ahmedabad’s traffic chaos is not accidental; it is the result of a non‑existent parking policy and widespread disregard for rules. Strengthening public transport is the only sustainable way to address this, but it requires a seriousness of purpose that has been missing from civic leadership.
The city is not short of expertise. Institutions like IIM and CEPT, along with numerous international specialists, have the knowledge Ahmedabad needs. What is missing is a governance model that listens. Stakeholder forums—bringing together experts, citizens, and elected representatives—can help the municipal corporation take difficult decisions with public backing. A shift to a Public‑Private Partnership model, with AMC acting primarily as a regulator, may be the only way to break the cycle of inefficiency and political interference.
Ahmedabad has two to three years to transform itself from a mismanaged city into a world‑class host for the Commonwealth Games. That window is narrow, and the stakes are high. The Games are not merely an event; they are a test of whether Ahmedabad can rise above complacency and confront its failures honestly. As a citizen who has watched this city decline despite its immense potential, I believe the time for polite requests is over. What Ahmedabad needs now is urgency, accountability, and a willingness to embrace reform—not for the sake of the Games alone, but for the future of the city itself.
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*President, Abad Amdavad
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