Ghatlodiya: The unplanned -planned neighborhood

Ghatlodiya is a village that started developing as an urban neighborhood 50 years back. Prior to the advent of the development, the outskirts were owned by Rabaris and Patel families who engaged in livestock raising and agriculture. SG Highway made Ghatlodiya a prime location for residential living, and it was also close to prime Ahmedabad locations. Around 1980, when the city was rapidly growing, the construction industry boomed in Ghatlodiya, and the city's development began to shift towards Ghatlodiya. Also, Ghatlodiya was heavily affected by a heavy influx of people from nearby areas. Around 1985, there were riots and disturbances in the wall city that were caused by political and communal reasons. Due to these disturbances, more people have started leaving Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority areas in fear of their lives, property, and families. Consequently, Ghatlodiya Town Planning scheme No.2 developed rapidly under the Ahmedabad Development Authority. Water supply, drainage and road maintenance were inadequate in the TP scheme though the area was developing at a fast rate. Due to this rapid growth development before the Town planning scheme could be implemented most of the organic planned areas started coming up which resulted in unplanned and haphazard planning of services.