Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has finally chosen the Vasna barrage premises on the Sabarmati riverfront as the site for the 25.2-metre-tall rotating steel tower that it plans to build as the city’s modern landmark.

The tower is part of the Gujarat government’s ‘golden goals’ programme for the state’s golden jubilee year.

However, Amdavadis will have to wait till May 2011 to see the Qutub Minar-like structure.

The tower will have six structural blocks with stainless steel cladding, each of which will rotate differently and appear to change colour and shape when viewed from different places along the river.

The tower will use thrust bearings to transmit load and for robotic movements between adjacent blocks.

The civic body has preferred the Vasna barrage premises to the Kankaria lakefront, Motera and Science City sites for the tower, possibly because the chosen site has enough space to accommodate a large number of people.

Since the design of the tower is unique, it is expected to attract a large number of visitors once it is ready.

City-based National Institute of Design (NID) and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, had worked on the details of this project and submitted a feasibility report to the civic body.

The design of the tower shows the influence of the world-famous Qutub Minar, the Ashok Stambh (pillar) and some of India’s ancient temples. Yet it has a uniqueness of its own.

The tower will take around six to eight months to complete from the date of commencement of work.

The civic body had allotted the contract for the Rs4.36-crore tower to Oriental Manufacturers in October 2009 after which the structure was supposed to be ready within eight months.

However, as work on the tower has not yet started, a proposal will be placed before the AMC’s standing committee for extension of the time limit for completion of the project.

The standing committee is likely to fix April 30, 2011 as the new deadline for the project’s completion.

Surendra Baxi, leader of opposition in the AMC, has criticised the ruling party’s policy of floating tenders of projects even before finalising their site.

“I fail to understand why they were in hurry to float the tender when even the spot where the rotating tower is to be built had not been finalised,” Baxi said.C