Institutional changes in peri urban areas A Case of Bopal Ghuma Nagarplaika

CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS
A CASE OF BOPAL- GHUMA NAGARPALIKA
INSTITUTIONAL CHANGES IN PERI-URBAN AREAS
By: Riddhi Vakharia
(PP0008714)
Guided By:
Anurima Mukherjee Basu
Dissertation
2016
Faculty of Planning, CEPT University

I hereby express my sincerest gratitude to my guide Prof. Anurima Mukherjee Basu for her
valuable guidance and inputs throughout the dissertation and made sure that I could produce
my best work. I would like to extend my thanks to my jury panel Prof. Sejal Patel and Dr.
Renu Desai for their most valuable comments that helped me to have a polished outcome.
Special thanks to Prof. Talat Munshi for his kind support when needed. I would also like to
thank all the faculty members of School of planning, for their worthwhile support.
My sincere thanks to Abhimanyu Chudasama for all his support at the Bopal-Ghuma
Nagarpalika office as my thesis was critically depended on government documents, it would
have not been possible without him. Also I will like to thanks other officers from the
Nagarpalika office are Mr. Rajeshkumar Patel and Mr. Jatinkumar Shah for their kind
guidance and for sharing of information.
This acknowledgement is incomplete without mentioning the support and help extended by
my family and especially my husband Prayag. Thanks for constantly inspiring me in the
times when it was needed most.
I am extremely grateful to my friends Spruha, Suhani, Palak, and the entire Mplan batch for
being there for me when it mattered most.
Thank you all.

Institutional changes in peri-urban
areas: Challenges and Prospects
A case of Bopal Ghuma Nagarpalika

Institutional changes in Peri-urban area its Challenges and prospects- A case of Bopal-Ghuma Nagarpalika
III | Page Riddhi Vakharia PP0008714
Introduction
Rapid urbanization creates a definitive pressure on the core urbanized area falling under the
jurisdiction of some urban local government. Also there is a phenomenal increase in urban
population in third world nations especially in the metropolitan areas which is due to high
migration from rural areas and small towns. This pressure results into spill out areas outside
the city limits which could be then classified as fringe zone area with a distinct and
dynamically varying space in the overall context of the core urbanized area. During
development the rural settlements are being absorbed within the urbanized areas, which can
also be termed as urban villages, lying on fringe of a large cities. This urban sprawl induces
the spreading of land uses of urban nature into the surrounding urban villages in the fringes
drawing large population into the urban-rural interface.
Peri-urban area are the transitional area which are the passage between the rural area i.e. the
village on one side and the urban core i.e. city on the other and obtains features of both these
areas. Characteristics of these areas may vary from place to place in their existence and
intensity on the basis of physical and cultural and economic aspects of the place. Various
parameters are used to define Urban areas which are broadly classified as demographic
components (i.e., increase of density and population size), economic sectoral component
(i.e., a primarily non-agricultural labor force) and psychological -social- component (i.e.,
awareness for the meaning of Urban) as identified by (Iaquinta & Drescher, 2000).
Institutional scenario of peri-urban area is relevant as we can understand the limitation
emerging development, management and planning in these areas. Peri-urban areas are often
under the jurisdiction umbrella of multiple administrative institutions, having fragile
relations and inadequate municipal power in service resulting into an uncertain environment
and ambiguity into which institutes works for what particular area. . (Adriana , L. A. da
Silva , & Corubolo, 1999). Key challenges due to poor institutional setup are lack of
capacity, shortage of funds, multiplicity of authorities, revenue generation, lack of technical
expertise, non-recognition and lack of planning, information gap.

Riddhi Vakharia PP0008714 IV | Page
Context
Ahmedabad is the biggest Municipal Corporation of Gujarat. Growth and development of
Ahmedabad has affected the surrounding villages. Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation
being a developed institution has been successful in providing better infrastructure. The
employment opportunities in the city combined with the transport connectivity results in
development of fringe villages. This resulted in peri-urbanization along AMC boundary.
Bopal-Ghuma are well connected to the city core through S.P. Ring road. More over being
not under AMC has its own benefits. Property and other taxes are lower compare to that of
a municipal corporation and there is total lack of building byelaws resulting into chaotic
development. There is a recent institutional change happening in this region merger of Bopal
and Ghuma and has happened to form a new Nagarpalika in February 2015.
Many peri-urban problems result from lack of clear local government system. Unplanned,
unregulated fast growth in city outskirts or peri-urban area is very common. Development
along transportation corridors outside the boundary of the master plan of a large city is a
natural fallout and this happens in peri-urban areas. Absence of any institutional structure
for proper governance and development of peri-urban area leads to weak infrastructure.
Panchayat’s jurisdiction is not sufficient and effective to resolve the problems of city
expansion with its meager financial capacity. The responsibility of providing infrastructure
and co-ordinating the development in the periphery areas of a city is usually handled by
multiple agencies, some of which may be state-level agencies, national institutes and local
agencies.
With the recent institutional change in Bopal- Ghuma there are certain challenges that the
Nagarpalika will face in service delivery, also there will be added functions which would
be difficult to handle. There are chances that with so much to handle with only limited
capacity these new functions might not be take care even with improved finances. Hence
the focus of the study is to understand the challenges arising from the recent institutional
change followed by changes in governance and to map out the future prospects of the same.

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Research
Peri-urban areas have remained focus of study of researchers across many disciplines since
many years. Similarly Peri-urban areas of Ahmedabad have also been studied including
Bopal and Ghuma village. Existing works and research were studied and it was found that
the aspect of transition in governance related issues with service delivery has never been
study that gives scope of further research.
Research question
"What are the challenges faced in the governance of peri-urban areas that are transiting from
rural to urban government structures?
What are future prospects of improvement?
Aim
"To study the changes in governance institutions in Bopal Ghuma area, the challenges faced
and future prospects"
Objectives
 To understand governance system of peri-urban areas in Gujarat.
 To study changes in functional and financial domain of Bhopal-Ghuma due to the
transition from gram-panchayat to a Nagarpalika.
 To analyze the existing institutional framework of governance and service delivery
in Bopal-Ghuma in reference to the provisions under the Act
 To identify the opportunities arising from the change and emerging problems due to
this transition.

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Methodology
A detailed study of the literature related to peri-urban issues and areas under transition from
rural to urban. Moreover extensive literature study is done on resources available on Bopal
and Ghuma and transition happening in that area. The study create a base for my research
and have laid out scope for further research. The secondary data including budget documents
and government orders are used to trace the changes in the institutional setup corresponding
to the transformation in the area. Also census data is used to find out the population statistics
for Bopal and Ghuma
Field visits were primarily done to understand the new governance structure, the functions
performed and the fiscal domain. Moreover interview of the old and the new key actors in
the system would be conducted. K. Snow ball sampling was used to collect information and
data. Observations were made during physical and visual survey of the site. Analysis was
done through in-depth study of the secondary government documents. Spatial mapping of
institutional responsibilities for service delivery in the area and budget document analysis.
Scope & Limitation
The entire focus is to study the institutional changes happening in Bopal-Ghuma after their
merger to form a new Nagarpalika. Also the study focuses emerging challenges from this
transition and future prospects. Due to time constraints study is conducted only on
institutional changes for Bopal and Ghuma Nagarpalika. Administrative aspects of
functionaries and capacity are not in purview of this research. The research based on
secondary materials, available government data and records and there was major
dependency on records. There was major dependency on government records, and personal
interviews and discussions with the officials.

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Functional Domain
It was clearly observed from the analytical table where comparison was made between
functions in 74th CAA and the ones delineated by the state under the Gujarat Municipalities
Act, that most of the functions from the 12th
schedule have been covered by the state list
under Gujarat Municipalities act 1965. But unfortunately issues such as environmental
conservation, urban forestry, Poverty alleviation, safeguarding weaker section of society,
etc. are not addressed. Ignorance of these issues and not regulating them as obligatory
functions shows state government’s lack total seriousness towards tangible issues. Also
there is no considerations for class of municipalities. Moreover a detailed analysis was done
by preparing an institutional matrix of service delivery. This was done through discussions
with the Nagarpalika officials and later on it was mapped spatially.
Institutional matrix helps to understand as to which institution is responsible for what
services. Moreover comparison of responsibilities versus actual scenario for the given
institutions. From the study of related literature it was found that at times multiplicity of
authority creates chaos and confusion on ground. But quite contradictor to what is
commonly found in plethora of literature on peri-urbanization there was no confusion
between its institutions for service delivery found for this case. Of course there is more than
one institute acting to provide services but their roles are performed well with a mutual
understanding and a clearly earmarked jurisdiction. Confusion is not created due to this
mutual understanding and hence a better quality infrastructure is provide with minimal
issues. Major trunk infrastructure is provided by AUDA in all the areas although it was
observed that Bopal-Ghuma provides all the necessary infrastructure to the gamtal area and
partly does in other than gamtal area too. Furthermore to support the matrix a detailed spatial
mapping of these services is done on the administrative map of the Bopal-Ghuma
Nagarpalika. Superimposition of both the data give a distinct list of services, the institutions
responsible for provision and their physical areas served.
Spatial mapping was done to understand how these services have been divided across the
region. In the spatial map prepared we can clearly indicate that maximum area of service
delivery have been covered by AUDA. Gamtal areas have been taken up only by Bopal-
Ghuma gram panchayat. For areas other than gamtal some services such as water supply
have been taken up by BGN. This spatial map also it helped to identify the gaps in the
service delivery. From the map we can also see that for majority of the area of Ghuma
village is still under agriculture hence we can see a transition of land uses here and while

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these multiple local and state level agencies are struggling to provide quality services in the
urbanized area, service provision in the area still under the agricultural land use is hardly a
question.
Service delivery of all the basic physical and social infrastructure is not just done by the
urban local body governing that particular administrative boundary alone though they play
a crucial role in bridging the gap between demands and need. Moreover they become the
people’s representative to the state.
Financial Domain
A detailed statistical analysis of the gram-panchayat budget of Bopal and Ghuma villages
of past six gives a clear picture of the functions performed by the institution. A passing look
given on the overview of the budget trends of the Gram Panchayat. With that we can also
find cost incurred for the same and revenue generated. Budget analysis was analyzed on the
basis of income and expenditure of the then gram panchayat. Also observations are done on
the basis of surplus/deficit, sources of income and places of expenditure, etc.
During the literature review a common problem found in the peri-urban areas that there was
a usually incredible shortage of funds and leading to inefficiency in the service delivery.
But astonishingly this did not hold true for Bopal and Ghuma gram panchayats. They are
managed financially very well even when they were gram panchayats. The budget is found
to be surplus in all last six financial years. Moreover the percentage income from taxes has
been reducing over time and contradicting to it the percentage increase in income from
grants have been increased over time. This reflects institution’s capacity to gain benefits
from the grants and reduce tax loads on the residents. Similarly for expenditure thought the
gross expenditure have been increasing there is a simultaneous increase in the expenditure
on the capital works. Moreover the development cost have been on an average 90% and
very little amount have been spend on general administration and other non-development
areas. This share of development and non-development expenditures clearly shows
efficiency of the working of the Nagarpalika.
Though Bopal and Ghuma have been quite efficient financially but there is high dependency
on the income from taxes and other source that are found very common in other Nagarpalika.
But if gaining financial independence is the next goal than there is need to think beyond
taxes. This could be done through innovative methods of revenue generation which includes
land based fiscal tools, municipal bonds and public private partnership. This methods if

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employed successfully then it would lead to a better working of the Nagarpalika with
reducing financial dependency. But currently the role of Bopal-Ghuma Nagarpalika is very
limited and they are not involved in planning. Hence they are only passive recipient of the
development done by the Urban Development Authority.
Conclusion
State government have given a quite an exhaustive list of functions to be performed by the
urban local bodies for the area under their jurisdiction. Well the biggest concern regarding
is the ignorance of the State government towards the fact that requirements and
performances capacities of each ULB’s is unique and can’t be generalized. In spite of the
fact the government has classified the municipalities on the basis of population in four
categories but this is where it ends this classification is not extended to consider the variation
in their roles and responsibilities. Moreover the fact that special attention is required to
ULB’s in transition as in case of Bopal and Ghuma is not reflected anywhere in the Acts
and rules. Following were the key challenges faced by the Bopal-Ghuma Nagarpalika for
their functional and financial domain.
Issues related to lack of technical expertise to for efficient service delivery is often seen in
areas under transition as well as small and medium towns. This leads to either dependency
of other bigger authorities for provision of infrastructure or else inefficiency of the same.
Also no special consideration from the side of government have been made for capacity
building of human resources. Hence even if they have enough funds in case of Bopal Ghuma
Nagarpalika execution of the technical job is difficult.
For peri-urban areas typically we can see there are multiple parastatals including urban
development authorities which are expected to work hand on hand for providing trunk
infrastructure and basic amenities. This anticipated co-ordination is challenging to achieve
as they are multiple authorities with a varying organizational structure and method of
working. Subsequently there is confusion and chaos. For case of Bopal Ghuma Nagarpalika
there is existence of multiple authorities such as BGN, AUDA, and DDO but there is a
mutual understanding between these authorities regarding the service delivery and their
areas are earmarked quite clearly. Consequently there is a better quality of infrastructure
with the minimal chaos.
Being a smaller Nagarpalika the transitional area in lack of awareness and information.
There is lack of information regarding the roles and responsibilities. Moreover sufficient

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information to gain benefits form grants and aids under various schemes is also missing.
This affects their availability of funds right away.
Insensitivity towards the social and environmental issue would prove fatal in long run. These
pressing issues are a part of the 74th
amendment act but they are nowhere to be found in the
Gujarat municipalities act. Environment conservations becomes even more important when
it comes to peri-urban areas. In case of Bopal and Ghuma they also have several natural
lakes but due to lack of authority’s care they have turned into the dumping grounds, are
encroached by squatters or are in an extremely deteriorated condition. Moreover lakes that
are developed are the ones where AUDA has put in the money for development.
The issues listed above coincide with the issues noted in the literature review. Moreover
these are the issues that are found in most of transitional areas. Typically issues in any peri-
urban areas are arising from lack of technical capacity and lack of funds. After analysis one
can say that lack of funds was not an issues with Bopal-Ghuma and also it won’t be a
problem in future as the Nagarpalika has received lots of funds from the ruling party and by
state government via GMFB under Swarnim Jayanti grants as mentioned in annex.
Transition of Bopal-Ghuma started long back in 1980’s after it crossed its population criteria
for Urban as per Census of India but it was speeded up after the construction of Sardar Patel
Ring Road which established a transport connection link with Ahmedabad city core area.
Moreover this speeded up with the commercial development along the Sarkhej-
Gandhinagar Highway and establishments of the business districts of Shivranjini and
Prahladnagar. Ghuma was affected directly by development in Bopal and Sanand.
Transition of Institutional status of Bopal and Ghuma have recently happened as it was
upgraded to Nagarpalika from a rural governing body. Currently AUDA is actively involved
in service delivery in Bopal and Ghuma which is clearly seen in institutional mapping. For
now installation of trunk infrastructure in the areas under T.P. Scheme is taken up by AUDA
both technically and financially. Its operation and maintenance is also done by the same
parastatals body. But would the funds that they at their disposal be sufficient if these services
were to be provided by Bopal-Ghuma Nagarpalika individually. Moreover currently
available technical capacity of the Nagarpalika seems to be inefficient to support the
operation and maintenance of the provided infrastructure in transitional area. Future
prospects of the Nagarpalika are described below.

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Efficiency can be accentuated by strengthening the technical staff and capacity building of
the existing one. This can be done by help from parastatals and Municipal Corporation.
Capacity building is evident for proper working of any institution more so for an urban local
body responsible for service delivery. Moreover the Nagarpalika acts as the bridge and a
mediator between the users or population and the Parasatal institution who provides the
infrastructure in the given peri-urban area. Enhancing the capacity also ensures better
communication of needs in the area. This would also gradually help the Nagarpalika to be
independent in service delivery and finances.
Increasing no of properties is a sign of development. Moreover these new properties also
brings a lot of revenue in the form of property tax, municipality tax, commercial tax, etc.
Apart from direct revenue generation with new residential property in the locality there is
an increase of demand of various commodities. Moreover increasing commercial properties
comes in with multiplier effect and also brings in further development and employment for
the locals making the area economically more self-reliant.
Hence in conclusion we can say that though Bopal -Ghuma Nagarpalika is under the
influence of peri-urbanization it is managed quite well than other transitioning area.
Independence in service delivery and revenue generation through innovative sources would
give the newly formed Bopal-Ghuma Nagarpalika the much needed independence in
functional and financial domain.

Acknowledgement.................................................................................................................0
Executive summary.............................................................................................................III
Table of Contents..................................................................................................................7
List of Charts.......................................................................................................................10
List of figures......................................................................................................................11
List of Maps ........................................................................................................................10
List of Tables.......................................................................................................................12
Abbreviations......................................................................................................................12
1. Introduction....................................................................................................................1
Background ............................................................................................................1
Peri-urbanization ....................................................................................................1
Characteristics of peri-urban areas.........................................................................2
Issues in urban fringes............................................................................................3
Context ...................................................................................................................5
Concern ..................................................................................................................5
Report Structuring ..................................................................................................6
2 Literature review..........................................................................................................17
Defining peri-urban ..............................................................................................17
Institutional landscape..........................................................................................19
Key challenges due to poor institutional Setup are ..............................................19
Constitutional framework.....................................................................................21
73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts ...................................................21
Constitution and Composition of the Panchayats and Municipalities..................23
Classification of Urban Local Bodies in Gujarat .................................................24
Powers and Functions of Municipality as per CAA.............................................25
Legal Framework in Gujarat ................................................................................26
Gujarat Municipalities Act, 1963 .........................................................................27
Functions ..............................................................................................................27
Functions of Municipality in Gujarat ...................................................................29
Municipal finance in Gujarat................................................................................31
Institutional Arrangement for Fund Transfer within the State .............................31

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Directorate of Municipalities (DoM) ...................................................................31
Gujarat Municipal Finance Board (GMFB) .........................................................32
State Level Nodal Agencies (SLNAs)..................................................................32
Gujarat State Finance Commission (GSFC) ........................................................33
Sources of Funds for ULBs..................................................................................34
3 Aim, Objective and Methodology ...............................................................................37
Need for study ......................................................................................................37
Development of urban fringes – a case of Ghuma village ...................................37
Rural to urban transformation in case of Bopal village Ahmedabad ...................40
Evolution and growth dynamics of rural and urban fringe zone: a case of
Ahmedabad agglomeration..............................................................................................42
Study of growth pattern in peri-urban area: a case of peripheral areas of
Ahmedabad......................................................................................................................42
Current Scenario...................................................................................................44
Research question.................................................................................................45
Aim.......................................................................................................................45
Objectives.............................................................................................................45
Conceptual framework .........................................................................................46
Structure ...............................................................................................................47
Research Methodology:........................................................................................48
4 City Profile..................................................................................................................51
Background ..........................................................................................................51
Location and regional setting ...............................................................................52
Growth of Ahmedabad .........................................................................................53
Planning area and Administrative Framework.....................................................54
Peri- urban villages, scenario in Ahmedabad.......................................................56
Review of Development Plan...............................................................................58
Development plan 2011........................................................................................58
Development plan 2021........................................................................................59
Bopal-Ghuma .......................................................................................................61
Demographics.......................................................................................................67
5 Functional domain .......................................................................................................71
Organizational structure of Bopal-Ghuma Nagarpalika.......................................71
Functional matrix and comparison.......................................................................72

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Institutional mapping............................................................................................77
6 Financial status of Bopal-Ghuma Nagarpalika............................................................83
Budget trends........................................................................................................83
Income..................................................................................................................84
Expenditure ..........................................................................................................87
Comparison ..........................................................................................................91
7 Conclusions..................................................................................................................95
Overview ..............................................................................................................95
Challenges ............................................................................................................95
Future prospects ...................................................................................................97
8 Annex.........................................................................................................................101
Gujarat Governments to the Gujarat Municipalities Act, 1963 and to the BPMC
Act, 1949. The provisions under the amendments in Gujarat are: ................................101
Functions of gram panchayat by federal governemnt ........................................101
Functions Assigned by the State Government for gram panchayat: ..................102
Functions of Municipality in Gujarat .................................................................103
Building tax rate of Bopal area...........................................................................106
Population Details ..............................................................................................109
Institutional Mapping Form................................................................................111
Budget of Bopal..................................................................................................114
Budget of Ghuma ...............................................................................................126
...................................................................................................................133

Chart 1: Federal Structure in India......................................................................................22
Chart 2: Structure of the thesis............................................................................................47
Chart 3: Conceptual Framework.........................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
Chart 4: Demographics of Bopal and Ghuma.....................................................................67
Chart 5: CAGR over the years ............................................................................................67
Chart 6: Organization structure of Municipality.................................................................71
Chart 7: Sources of income V/S Building tax and dependency ratio..................................85
Chart 8: Income from various tax sources ..........................................................................86
Chart 9: Income from various tax sources ..........................................................................86
Chart 10: Income of taxes in year 2008-2009.....................................................................86
Chart 11: Expenditure of Bopal and Ghuma Nagarpalika ..................................................87
Chart 12: development and non-development expenditure breakup of Bopal and Ghuma
gram panchayat ...................................................................................................................87
Chart 13: Expenditure and development expenditure.........................................................88
Chart 14: Total development expenditure...........................................................................88
Chart 15: Breakup of development expenditure .................................................................89
Chart 16: Total development expenditure of Bopal and Ghuma Gram panchayat.............89
Chart 17: Total no. of properties and population................................................................90
Chart 18: Budget of ULB's in 2011-2012 ...........................................................................91
Map 1: Bopal - Ghuma and its proximity to Ahmedabad 7
Map 2: Map of AUDA boundary 54
Map 3: Administrative boundaries of various authorities 55
Map 4: Delineation of contiguous growth of Ahmedabad 56
Map 5: Bopal and Ghuma administrative boundaries 62
Map 6: Amenities and infrastructure 65
Map 7: Map of institutional overlap in Bopal-Ghuma for service delivery 82

Figure 1: Rural- Urban Dynamics 1
Figure 2: Peri urban areas 1
Figure 3: Spatial and Sectoral overflows 2
Figure 4: issues in peri-urban areas 3
Figure 5: Issues in peri-urban areas 4
Figure 6: Increasing peri-urbanization 17
Figure 7: Nagar Panchayat in India 23
Figure 8: Map of Ghuma Village 37
Figure 9: Map of Bopal Village 41
Figure 10: Map of Gujarat with districts 51
Figure 11: Ahmedabad district in context of Gujarat State 52
Figure 12: Growth of Ahmedabad 53
Figure 13:AUDA DP 2011 58
Figure 14: AUDA DP 2011 Bopal area 58
Figure 15: Zoning in Development plan 60
Figure 16: Map of Ahmedabad and relation of Bopal-Ghuma 61
Figure 17: Daskroi taluka and its proximity to city core 61
Figure 18: Bopal-Ghuma BRTS 63
Figure 19: Google imagery year 2001 64
Figure 24: Infrastructure in Bopal-Ghuma 79
Figure 25: Roads in Bopal 79
Figure 26: Existence of private water markets 80
Figure 27: Use of bottled water even by street vendors 80
Figure 28: Digging of roads for lines 80
Figure 29: Lake in Bopal 81
Figure 30: Ghuma lake front development by AUDA 81
Figure 31: Gamtal area of Bopal and Ghuma 82

Table 1: Classification of Municipalities in Gujarat 24
Table 2: Conceptual framework for research 46
Table 3: Field visits and key person’s interview 50
Table 4: Population chart as per Census India for Bopal and Ghuma 68
Table 5: Decadal Compound Annual Growth rate 68
Table 6: Comparison of functions 76
Table 7: Institutional Mapping 78
Table 8: Budget actuals in lakhs of Bopal and Ghuma gram panchayat over last five years
83
Table 9: Budget surplus of Bopal and Ghuma gram panchayats 83
Table 10: Income of Bopal and Ghuma gram panchayat 84
Table 11: Tax and Non-tax income of Bopal and Ghuma gram panchayat 85
Table 12: List of expenditure for collective development plans and public construction. 90
Table 13: Total number of properties 90
Table 14: Comparison of Bopal-Ghuma gram panchayat budget with other ULB's of Gujarat
in 11-12 91
AUDA: Ahmedabad Urban development Authority
AMC: Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation
BGN: Bopal Ghuma Nagarpalika
CAA: Constitutional Amendment Act
DoM: Directorate of Municipality
GMFB: Gujarat Municipal Finance Board
GSFC: Gujarat State Finance Commission
GUDC: Gujarat Urban Development Company Limited
GUDM: Gujarat Urban Development Mission
SFC: State Finance Commission
SLN: State level nodal agency
ULB: Urban local body

Introduction
1.1. Background
1.2. Peri-urbanization
1.3. Characteristics of Peri-Urban areas
1.4. Issues
1.5. Context
1.6. Concern
1.7. Report structuring

Background
Rapid urbanization creates a definitive pressure on the core urbanized area falling under the
jurisdiction of some urban local government. Also there is a phenomenal increase in urban
population in third world nations especially in the metropolitan areas which is due to high
migration from rural areas and small towns. This pressure results into spill out areas outside
the city limits which could be then classified as fringe zone area with a distinct and
dynamically varying space in the overall context of the core urbanized area. While
developing the rural settlements are being absorbed within the urbanized areas, moreover
these can also be termed as urban villages while lying on fringe of a large cities. This urban
sprawl induces the spreading of land uses of urban nature into the surrounding urban villages
in the fringes drawing large population into the urban-rural interface.
Figure 1: Rural- Urban Dynamics
Source:http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HGOH4Dmtv9M/VdKoHXWeanI/AAAAAAAACKo/XhubVoDdEI4/s1600/rural-urban-600x250.jpg
Peri-urbanization
Peri-urban area are the
transitional zones between the
true urban and true rural
landscape, laying on the
periphery of town and its
surrounding. These changes in
diverse sectors has specific
Figure 2: Peri urban areas
Source:http://www.cityfarmer.info/2009/11/05/contribution-of-urban-agriculture-to-
food-security-biodiversity-conservation-and-reducing-agricultural-c-foot-print/

influence on the lives of the residents in social, economic and political context. Peri-urban
area is the transitional area which is the passage between the rural area i.e. the village on
one side and the urban core i.e. it is city on another between true urban and true rural area
including feature of both these areas. It exhibits key role in structural and morphological
transformation of the urban agglomeration area. Characteristics of these areas may vary
from place to place in their existence and intensity on the basis of physical and cultural and
economic aspects of the place.
Characteristics of peri-urban areas
Various parameters are used to define Urban areas which are broadly classified as
demographic components (i.e., increase of density and population size), economic sectoral
component (i.e., a primarily non-agricultural labor force) and psychological -social-
component (i.e., awareness for the meaning of Urban) as identified by (Iaquinta & Drescher,
2000). Which has indicators such as population, population density, gender ratio, agriculture
activities, primary activities, non-agriculture, urban activities, built up area, literacy,
infrastructure services, commuting population, etc. one of the characteristics is the change
in demographic pattern i.e. rapid increase in population and with that increase in workforce
involved with non-primacy occupation. Change in physical characteristics in the form of the
range of land uses found in peri-urban areas is very wide as it includes rural, urban and
Spatial Flows
Migration and
remitances
goods serices and
waste
Information
Resource/Water and
nutrients
Sectoral flows
Crop/livestock for
local use
Input markets
High value agricultre
trade
Peri-urbana and
multi functional
agriculture
Very rural
Rural
Small town
Peri-urban
Very urban
Figure 3: Spatial and Sectoral overflows

transitional character. Moreover there is an intermingling of both the characters in form of
population and land use as the land uses may be urbanized but the population may still be
rural. There is a mix of agricultural activities e.g. cash crops are linked to rural areas and
commercially grown crops such as horticulture and flowers which has a direct link to urban
areas. Other types of land like industrial setups, warehouses, have more obvious urban
dimensions. The vacant land in such areas has an intermediary land use. The built up land
for residential purposes etc., lie in the urban end of the rural- urban continuum. Change in
spatial character of the area is depended on the surrounding activities and its urbanness
determines the scale and nature of change. (Patel)
Issues in urban fringes
Attempts of satisfying economic and social needs of a large majority of growing world
population happens in an urban context. This is followed by a huge amount of migration of
people in the urban area with a possibility of uncontrollable urban explosion with an
unprecedented increase in population, pressure on urban infrastructure and resulting
decrease of standard of living.
In the wake of rapid expansion of metropolitan cities, the local governments can barely
cope up with just maintenance of the existing services within their Jurisdiction. While
serviced' urban land may indeed be far below the requirement of the urban area, the
processes of speculative purchase and land conversion from agriculture to Non-agricultural
use continue unabated in the fringe areas.
Urbanisation, a process of
concentration of people and socio-
economic activities within limited
geographical areas, created a
pattern of interpersonal
dependencies, unknown in the rural
areas. This creates a situation where
provision of infrastructural
facilities, law and order, shelter
becomes a difficult task. The forces
of the free market have often been
found inadequate to fulfil this responsibility. In the rural setting, it may be possible to leave
the decisions pertaining to housing and residential environment etc. to the private
Figure 4: Issues in peri-urban areas
Source: http://steps-centre.org/2010/blog/peri-urban-futures-and-sustainability/

individuals, with certain amount of financial and administrative support from the state. In
urban areas, however, such decisions necessarily call for significant exogenous
intervention.The local governing body in the peri-urban area is incapable of handling the
complex issues arising from the process of urbanization. The major issues arising at the peri-
urban areas are listed below.
1.4.1 Physical issues
Physical issues revolves around the
poor quality or total lack of physical
infrastructure in the area. Lack of
amenities like fire station, main post,
Govt. hospital, Gardens, Schools,
playgrounds, etc. Lack of physical
infrastructure such as water supply,
sewage system, solid waste
management. (Saxena & Sharma,
2015) Moreover this issue amplifies as
there is piece meal non-contiguous
development in absence of governing
authority. With no proper governing institution in place there is violation of Building
regulation or total absence of them.
1.4.2 Organizational issues
Most common issue found in service delivery of the overlapping of functions of concerned
authorities and multiplicity of authorities. This ambiguity creates lack of co-ordination
between various agencies. Urban authorities ignore problems of these transitional areas as
they are outside there administrative boundaries. Gram panchayat or rural governing body
is incapable and inefficient to deal with complex issues arising from urbanization.
Overlapping of functions creates confusions and results into lack of service provision.
Collecting and assigning revenues. Moreover there is no legal binding on different agencies
to supply the regular feedback to each other involved in the process. No punitive measures
taken for any type of violation. (Maloo & Pandagre)
1.4.3 Financial issues:
Incorporation in fringe areas within municipal limits will require more initial investments
than returns to the municipal corporation. Panchayat will lack in financial resources and
Physical
Organizational
Environmental
Financial
Figure 5: Issues in peri-urban areas

technical expertise. Infrastructure development works are not playing and there is not much
provision to recover their costs from consumers.
1.4.4 Environmental
Per-Urban area have more environmental elements compared to a rural area due to other
transitional Peri-urban areas being in transition would be under tremendous change of land
uses which has a severe effect on environment and ecosystems of the area. Urbanization at
these places comes with the cost of depletion of environment resulting into serious
disruptions of ecosystems. Many a times there have been cases when the region has lost its
complete natural characteristics. This might result into deforestation, depletion of water,
grasslands etc. Moreover at time these areas are conveniently selected as the landfill and
dumping sites hurrying the process. Astonishingly there is not enough care taken by the
authority to conserve or protect the environmental characteristics in the run for urbanisation.
Context
Ahmedabad is one of the thriving urban core of Gujarat state. In the case of Ahmedabad,
peri-urban areas are developing just outside the Municipal Corporation limit at places
having good connectivity with the city center in terms of roads and public transport system.
Bopal –Ghuma falls on the fringes of the administrative boundary of Ahmedabad city. The
approval and permissions for development are relatively easy to obtain. Since the last
decade, they are passing through the tremendous growth development which has made it a
prime location for investments and attracting new individuals to work and live. This also
brings in transformations in rural landscape and issues followed by it. There is a recent
institutional change happening in this region where merger of Bopal and Ghuma villages
are done to form a new Nagarpalika. This institutional change in the transitioning peri-urban
area is the focus of the study.
Concern
With the recent institutional change there are certain challenges that the Nagarpalika will
face in service delivery, also there will be added functions which would be difficult to cope
up with, but the bright side is that they will receive new grants under multiple urban
development schemes. There are chances that with so much to handle with only limited
capacity these new functions would not be managed or performed even with improved
finances.

Many peri-urban problems result from lack of clear local government system. The peri-
urban area is an area which is part of neighboring city or is autonomous. Unplanned,
unregulated fast growth in city outskirts or peri-urban area is very common. Development
along transportation corridors outside the boundary of the master plan of a large city is a
natural fallout and this happens in peri-urban areas. Absence of any institutional structure
for proper governance and development of peri-urban area leads to weak infrastructure.
Panchayat’s jurisdiction being a rural governing body is not sufficient and effective to
resolve the problems of city expansion with its meager financial capacity. The need to assign
the responsibility of providing infrastructure of controlling and Co-ordinating the decision
of the inhabitants, entrepreneurs etc. in the cities and towns to certain exogenous agency,
say state, therefore, becomes amply difficult. Hence the focus of the study is to understand
the challenges arising from the recent institutional change followed by changes in
governance and to map out the future prospects of the same.
Report Structuring
The report has been structured in the chronological manner with background study and
literature study being in the initial chapters followed by chapters that emerged from my
research and analysis.
Chapter 1: Introduction
This chapter has the basic introduction to the subject of study the context and why both
combined together are a big concern. It gives the background of the peri-urbanization
process, characteristics of such an area. Moreover issues in peri-urban areas have been
enlisted. And the chapter ends with sketching out the context and major concern for the
same.
Chapter 2: Literature review
Introductory study of the subject based on the literature review covers this chapter. This
includes definition of what peri-urban areas are, what the common issues are. Understanding
of what is common setup for governance national and state framework for the peri-urban
areas.
Chapter 3: Aim objective and methodology
This chapter gives overall idea of how the research is formulated. It includes the relevance
and the need of the study. It is then followed by formation of research question, defining the
aim and objectives and ultimately ending in with what the scope and limitations of the study.

Chapter 4: City profile
This chapter focuses on contextual analysis of the city of Ahmedabad and discusses the
growth pattern and situation of peri-urban villages. Further the chapter discusses about
Bopal and Ghuma specifically and discusses its demographic patterns in detail.
Chapter 5: Institutional framework for Service Delivery
The main research in the functional domain and the institutional framework for service
delivery has been discussed in this chapter through comparison of functions at various levels
and preparing an institutional matrix. Further this matrix is mapped understand the spatial
relation of the authorities and service delivery.
Chapter 6: Financial status of Bopal-Ghuma Nagarpalika
Here in this chapter a detailed financial and statistical analysis has been done on the Bopal
and Ghuma’s budget documents of past five years. It the budget trends. This is followed by
comparing the budget statistic with other ULB’s of Gujarat state.
Chapter 7: Conclusion
This is the concluding chapter which highlights the key findings of this research. Which is
followed by summing up challenges and future prospects arising from the institutional
changes in Bopal and Ghuma. Moreover the research is concluded by giving the idea of
what next to do.
Map 1: Bopal - Ghuma and its proximity to Ahmedabad

Literature review
2.1. Defining Peri-urban
2.2. Institutional Landscape
2.3. Key challenges
2.4. Constitutional Framework
2.5. 73rd
and 74th
CAA
2.6. Constitution and composition
2.7. Classification of ULB
2.8. Powers and functions
2.9. Legal framework in Gujarat
2.10. Gujarat municipalities Act
2.11. Functions
2.12. Functions of municipality in Gujarat
2.13. Municipal financing in Gujarat
2.14. Institutional arrangement
2.15. DOM
2.16. GMFB
2.17. State level nodal agencies
2.18. GSFC
2.19. Sources of funds for ULB

Defining peri-urban
The complications of contemporary land use occurs in peri-urban areas. The prime cause
lies is in the unclear and ambiguous meanings of these areas, are they rural are they urban,
are they to be preserved or to become the platform of dynamics and development. Moreover
its complexities increases because of its transitional nature and are characterized by neglect
and ignorance particularly in the developing countries. And being neither completely urban
nor completely rural, it falls outside the domain of planner on either side, but continues to
cater to the spill over population without basic infrastructural provisions resulting into
increasing disparities. (Sarkar & Bandhopadhyay, 2013)
Many researchers across the globe have described peri-urban using contradictory
environments and process from multiple disciplines. But unfortunately there is a difference
observed in the definitions as the process of peri-urbanization for one was consequence for
the other. Subsequently, the concept of peri urban has become underestimated and
repetitive, its analytical and practical utility severely compromised. The concept of peri
urban emerged due to restrictions in the separation between rural and urban. (Rambaud,
1973)
There is a strong criticism
by (RUPRI, 1998) on the
dichotomy on the basis of
"urban" and "rural"
definitions, and
arguments that the so
called rural characteristics
also occur in the rural-
urban continuum where
there is settlement.
Prominently peri-urban areas are vibrant and dynamic in case of social forms which are
structured, arranged, adjusted and discarded.
Figure 6: Increasing peri-urbanization

2.1.1 Various transitional areas and its characteristics
(1) Rural: The character of rural village is reflected as predominantly agricultural, very low
population growth pattern, low density pattern, Kachcha structures and low level of facilities
and inadequate or absent physical infrastructure. Since the pressure is not much on the land,
the quality of life is settled and traditionally rural.
(2) Pre-transition: During this stage, there is a gradual change is observed in characteristics
of village near an area of urban extension which is reflected in:
 Medium population growth, with gradually increasing migration patterns.
 The dominance of agriculture starts diminishing
 The land subdivision takes place outside the municipal boundary and under the urban
authority boundary, but occupancy still remains low.
(3) Transition: Villages in this stage is under the umbrella of urban extension and are
characterized by extremely high land subdivision beyond the Municipal boundary resulting
into diminishing agriculture domain.
(4) Post-transition: During this stage, inter-dependence of village surrounding the planned
development area is increased on each other as the village becomes part and parcel of the
later due to its proximity with the metropolitan core. This stage is characterized by:
 Very high population and increasing migration close to a problem situation
 Change in employment structure
 Change in land use from residential to mix land use, and emergence of small
manufacturing units
(5) Urban: During this stage, villages are fully surrounded by planned development. They
are identified as high density, over congestion, highly stressed area with inadequate
infrastructure and facilities. In absence of building byelaws and development controls, this
area becomes a buffer for the planned area. With increasing pressure on urban land and strict
regulations, urban villages form a cushion to receive the priced out low-income population
and activities, depending. Complementing to the ones proposed in planned areas. (Kumar,
2002)

Institutional landscape
Institutional scenario of peri-urban area is relevant as we can understand the limitation
emerging development, management and planning in these areas. Peri-urban areas are often
under the jurisdiction umbrella of multiple administrative institution, having fragile
relations and inadequate municipal power in service sectors such as transportation, water,
energy, solid waste management and land use planning resulting into an uncertain
environment and ambiguity into which institutes works for delivering which services. .
(Adriana , L. A. da Silva , & Corubolo, 1999).
Town that are talked about here are transiting from rural to urban. There are lot of challenges
faced due to this progression from rural to urban which require unconventional
interpretations and solutions. The process of moving from rural to urban throws up some
unique challenges that require more than standard solutions. An example is managing solid
waste disposal in towns where dairy cattle are kept in residential areas. The absence of basic
infrastructure, such as reliable electric power, limits the usefulness of such technology.
Small towns are potentially more easily governable than large cities. The 74th Constitutional
Amendment Act in 1992 was designed to provide this by devolving powers to local
governments. While it has facilitated the creation of elected urban local bodies even in the
smallest of such towns, many of them do not have the capacity, or even the knowledge, to
use the powers they have to improve conditions in these towns. Municipal bodies in small
towns are caught in a pernicious vicious cycle of low capability, resulting in low collection
of revenue leading to poor performance in the delivery of all basic services.
Key challenges due to poor institutional Setup are
There are series of challenges that are posed due to the transformations in rural landscape.
The challenges lies in governing the population, as to who will govern them, who decides
the decision making authority and who has the control. How will there be sharing of roles
and responsibilities between the old rural actors and the new actors in the emerging urban
scenario. In crux of all what will be the politics of governance and how the newly governed
peri-urban spaces will emerge.
2.3.1 Lack of Capacity
Being upgraded from the rural governing body they are not competent enough to handle
complex issues arising from unruly and uncontrolled urbanization happening in the area.
Moreover the functions gram panchayat as per (Act, 1993) are very limited and not at all

upgraded as per the current need. Up gradation of Bopal and Ghuma gram panchayat to
Nagar Palika would add to the problems of low capacity and performance.
2.3.2 Shortage of funds
The gram panchayat does not have the capacity to reap in the benefits from various rural
development funds declared by government and as the area is not recognized as urban by
the state they do not get urban development funds either. Devolution of powers to urban
local bodies were to be done with the passing of the 74th amendment was meant to devolve
powers to urban local bodies. But unfortunately even a passing observation regarding the
situation in multiple small and medium towns suggests that it has not happened
homogenously. Although officially on paper ULB’s have been granted the power as per 74th
CAA. Besides the fact that there is political autonomy at some places, financial autonomy
has yet not trickled down completely till the ULB. (Sharma, 2012)
2.3.3 Multiplicity of authorities
In an urban setup land is most amenable to political and bureaucratic maneuvers. The
administrative overlap, involving several government departments, like State Revenue
Department, State Town Planning Departments, urban local bodies and even village
Panchayats, in situations where the fringe area is not inside corporation limits, often result
in inadequate appreciation and isolated interpretations of a plethora of changing rules that
remain un-enacted. (Kankaria)
2.3.4 Revenue Generation
Residents in tax and penalties received by comparing a result in hand to leave the city to
provide services figure very meager amount of urban area is much less. In the small towns
of the city. In addition local authorities often cannot collect them the right to collect such
taxes several property tax, water tax, business tax and automobile tax. They simply do not
have the task of manpower. As a result, they are almost entirely dependent on the state
government, or centrally sponsored program funding to finance basic services or even
delivery. In turn, the poor conditions prevalent in small towns and their dismal urban
infrastructure to bring fresh investment to prevent this type of urban private investors from
other parts of the country. Since Janjgir Chairman of the City Council, Motilal Dahariya, he
explained that they have no source of income. Without a strong economic structure or
mechanism to collect from taxes, there is no property tax or Mandy (Quote tax) and water
tax is fixed at 50 rupees. Month, because there is no Shuimi. Since the City Council to use
the funds to pay off the loan in most places it took interest in the establishment of a water

filtration plant, which runs out of money to pay wages last month of the fiscal year. (Sharma,
2012)
2.3.5 Lack of technical expertise
As per (Saxena & Sharma, 2015) nagar Palika lack technical expertise that would enable
them to provide better services and infrastructure also operation and maintenance of the
same is difficult at times.
2.3.6 Information Gap
Lack of information hampers the local bodies’ capabilities to effectively plan and manage
their administrative area. Even if data are available with concerned agencies they are either
not readiy usable and/or accessible for planning or management purposes, or there are
serious problems with them. (Shivanand Swamy & Mukundan)
Constitutional framework
73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts
At 73 and 74 constitutional amendment bill in early 1990 it has been introduced in an
attempt to achieve equality of decentralization and local self-government bodies to provide
constitutional recognition. Revision of national parliaments, confer these powers, giving
Panchayats and municipalities such powers and functions, it may be necessary to enable
them to become self-organization - government. Responsibility For this purpose,
Panchayats and municipalities have been responsible for the formulation and
implementation of economic development and social justice, including the constitutional
articles 11 and 12 of the matters listed in Schedule Program
India has a three tier system where at the top most level is the Federal or the central
government. It is followed by state government and lastly it is urban local body or ULB.

2.5.1 Panchayat
Under Article 243G there is provision
that, with regards to provision of
constitution, any State legislature has the
liberty that they may grant such necessary
powers and authority to the panchayat so
that they can work as the institution of
self-government. Moreover the law of
these type can also contain requirements
for the devolution of powers and
responsibilities upon Panchayat at the
suitable level.
This amendment if followed it can give political as well as fiscal autonomy to a rural
governing body i.e. gram panchayat under Panchayati raj. But unfortunately there is a loop
hole in the amendment. It does not compel the state to follow this but gives liberty that they
may follow this and hence they are not mandated by the constitution to follow the
amendment resulting into failure of decentralization.
2.5.2 Municipalities
Under Article 243W there is provision that, with regards to provision of constitution, any
State legislature has the liberty that they may grant such necessary powers and authority to
the Municipality so that they can work as the institution of self-government. Moreover the
law of these type can also contain requirements for the devolution of powers and
responsibilities upon the ULB at the suitable level.
This article is same as 243G only this is for an urban governing body. This amendment if
followed it can give political as well as fiscal autonomy to an Urban Local Body i.e.
Municipality. But unfortunately there is a loop hole in the amendment. It does not mandate
the state to follow this but gives liberty that they may follow this and hence they are not
compelled by the constitution to follow the amendment resulting into failure of
decentralization. Consequently the powers, functions or finances does not trickle down to
the ULB leaving it depended on the state for its finances and powers.
State
Union
Panchayati Raj
Zilla panchayat
Block/Taluka
Panchyat
Village Panchayat
Gram sabha
Municipality
Municipal
Corporations
Municipal council
Nagar Panchayat
Ward Meetings
Chart 1: Federal Structure in India

Constitution and Composition of the Panchayats and
Municipalities
A Gram Panchayat is established for any local area comprising of revenue village or a group
of revenue villages or hamlets the population of which is not ordinarily less than 500 and
not more than 10,000. (Panchayati Raj In Gujarat, Government Of Gujarat, 1973)
Furthermore the amendment for an urban settlement has laid that every state shall constitute
the following:
2.6.1.1 Constitution of three types of Municipalities
a. A Nagar Panchayat (Nagarpalika in case of Gujarat)for a transitional area, that is to
say, an area in transition from a rural area to an urban area or a peri-urban area
b. A municipal council for a smaller urban area, and (municipality as in Gujarat)
c. A municipal corporation for a larger area.
As per the Article 243 (Q) (2) the governor of the state is given with the powers to grade an
area into small, large or into transitional area. This gradation depends on the factors such as
population, area, density, revenue generated for local administration, employment in non-
agricultural activities, and other factors that point to the economic importance of the area.
Gujarat follows similar criteria in grading and these were also used in formation of Bopal-
Ghuma Nagarpalika.
As of April 1998 Gujarat is having one of the lowest number of Nagar Panchayats as
compared to the state of Tamil Nadu, Uttar
Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Also the
percentage of Nagar/Town Panchayat to
total ULBs is the lowest in Gujarat as
compared to other states of India. This
implies the weak implementation of the
74th Constitutional Amendment Act.
(Structure and size of Urban local bodies in
India)
Urban center with a population range
between 30,000 and 100,000 inhabitants
should have Nagar Panchayats as their
governing body. Nevertheless, there are Figure 7: Nagar Panchayat in India

some exceptions where all the previous town area committees (urban centers with a
population range of 5,000 to 20,000) would be reclassified as Nagar panchayat.
Organizational structure of Nagar panchayats include ward members and have a chairman
with ward members. These members comprises of minimum 3 nominated members and
10 elected members. Chief of all the administration is a lock development officer also
commonly called as Executive Officer. (Urban Local Government: Municipal governance:
main features, structures, finance and problem areas; 74th Constitutional Amendment;
Global Local debate; New localism; Development dynamics, politics and administration
with special reference to city management, n.d.)
Classification of Urban Local Bodies in Gujarat
Table 1: Classification of Municipalities in Gujarat
Administratively Gujarat has classified Urban local bodies into A, B, C and D classes.
Currently there are 170 urban local bodies in Gujarat of which, 8 are Municipal corporations
and 162 are municipalities. All 8 municipal corporations of the state include urban
population of 150 lakhs. Whereas 22 A class, 29 B class and 45 C class and 66 D class
municipalities include population of nearly 60 lakhs.
With the 74th CAA, 1992, all the elected bodies of the state are governed under the Gujarat
Municipalities Act, 1963 which is administered and supervised by the Directorate of
Municipalities (DoM). The Municipal Corporations are empowered under BPMC Act,
1949. (Directorate Of Municipalities) Bopal and Ghuma Nagarpalika whose total
population as per census data is 53,000 approx. falls under class B municipality.
Classification Population Total
Municipalit
ies
As per
census
Municipal Corporations Above 2.5 lacs 8 8
Class More than 1 Lac 18 22
Class 50,000 to 1,00,000 33 29
Class 25,000 to 50,000 45 45
Class 15,000 to 25,000 63 66

Powers and Functions of Municipality as per CAA
Along with matters included in the 11th
schedule 73rd
CAA have passed on responsibility of
implementing schemes related to social justice and also for economic development in their
area of jurisdiction.
Along with matters included in the 12th
schedule 73rd
CAA have passed on responsibility of
implementing schemes related to social justice and economic development in their area of
jurisdiction. Twelfth schedule apart from the ones mentioned above also includes following
matters:
 Urban planning and town planning
 Regulation of land-use and construction of buildings
 Planning for social and economic development
 Slum improvement and up gradation
 Provision of urban amenities and facilities such as parks, gardens, playgrounds
 Public amenities including street lighting, parking lots, bus stops and public
conveniences. (under 12th
schedule of 74th
Constitutional Amendment act)
A district level planning committee is to be formed under the article 243ZD of 74th
CAA
which will prepare a plan for District development. It has the powers to prepare a draft
district development plans which amalgamates the plans prepared by all the smaller
governing bodies i.e. panchayats and municipalities. These plans have considerations for all
the matter of common interests such as spatial planning, integrated development of trunk
infrastructure, sharing of water and other natural resources and last but not the least
environmental considerations. Furthermore these plans should be prepared such that they
consolidate the plans prepared by panchayats and municipalities.
A metropolitan planning committee is to be formed as stated under article 243ZE for
metropolitan areas such that it constitutes of members elected by and from the members of
the municipalities and chairpersons of the panchayat that lie within the metropolitan area.
The proportion is taken with regards to proportion of population of the municipalities and
Panchayats in the metropolitan areas and are having same mandate as mentioned above for
district planning committee.
There is a provision under the Article 243N and Article 243ZF which states that any
provision of any law that relates to Panchayats and Municipalities respectively, is in force

at the time of the of the amendments, which are varying with the provisions of this
amendment, would be continued to be in force until amended or repealed by a competent
legislature or other competent authority or until one year from such commencement,
whichever is earlier.
Once the ULB’s and panchayats are granted autonomy and powers at appropriate levels
these articles ensured that there is a cohesion when it comes to planning. Urban and town
planning being the function of the ULB as per the 12th
schedule if done individually by each
institution may consequently lead to chaos and confusion as the resources may be spreaded
across multiple administrative boundaries and leads to inefficient management of the same.
Moreover some trunk infrastructure like highways, water canals have to be provided at a
much larger scale than a ULB. This can be achieved through Metropolitan Planning
Committee and District Planning Committee which makes certain that all the smaller level
plans are consolidated to form a single cohesive plan through Metropolitan Development
Plan and District Development Plans.
Legal Framework in Gujarat
With the 74th
CAA, imposed upon the state, states have shown great indifference towards
State Finance Commissions and have provided them with administrative or technical
assistance. In lines with the 74th
CAA and its notification, amendments were executed by
the Gujarat Governments to the Gujarat Municipalities Act, 1963 and to the BPMC Act,
1949. The provisions under the amendments in Gujarat can be referred in section 8.1 of
annex. The provision has looked into the following mater:
2.9.1 Structural
It includes provisions for fair and regular conduct of elections to the municipalities by
statutory constituted State Election Commissions. Once in every five years a Finance
Commission should be constituted to recommend to the Central Finance Commission,
measures to improve the financial health of municipal bodies.
This ensures that the municipalities observe clear democracy through all the elected
members. Moreover a body like state finance commission greatly helps in maintaining the
financial balance of the municipality.
2.9.2 Functional
The provisions of Gujarat Municipalities Act, 1963 and the BPMC Act, 1949 have been
amended in 1993 but there was a total ignorance towards actual devolution which should

have took place like regulation of land- use, town planning with development authorities,
safeguarding the interests of weaker sections, promotion of cultural, educational and
aesthetic aspects have still not been devolved fully.
This results into lack of political as well as fiscal devolution of power and failure of
decentralization. This also leaves the municipality depended on the state government for its
efficient functioning.
2.9.3 Planning
As highlighted by 74th
CAA there should be a metropolitan planning committee but their
absence in Gujarat have limited the functional role of ULB in management and planning to
a varying sectoral departmental plans and programs which could never lead to a
consolidated planning and cohesive development of the ULB’s.
This ineffective planning results in inefficiency in working of the ULB. Their proper
functioning could be hampered due to lack of vision and planning.
Gujarat Municipalities Act, 1963
The Gujarat Municipalities Act, 1963 was reviewed and amended in accordance with the
74th CAA; however the involvement of municipalities in the decentralization process is
very vague. The observations on the implementations status and reforms have been analyzed
from the study done by P.Bindu, 2007. The main shortfalls in the act pointed by her are:
a. High involvement of parastatal bodies due to lack of technical personnel in the
municipalities
b. Low resource mobilization initiatives and hence highly dependency of ULBs on
grants
c. State and state agencies control on major decision making, as a result no actual
decentralization is seen
Functions
2.11.1Functions of gram panchayat by federal governemnt
Functions as per the federal government can be referred from section 8.2 in annex. These
functions broadly look efficient at the functioning of a rural governing body i.e. gram
panchayat. It addresses issues of infrastructure such as water supply and sanitation. It also

specifies in creating an environment which is hygienic and would not result in spread of
epidemic. Construction, maintenance and repairs of public streets, parks, etc are under their
purview. Organizing voluntary labor for upliftment of its area is also important function.
Moreover there should be control and administration of the Gram Panchayat Fund and nyay
panchayat. The imposition, assessment and collection of the taxes, rates or fees; The
maintenance and control of Dafadars and Chowkidars.
These functions as mentioned above help in an overall development as required by the rural
body. Moreover it is important to study these functions as the Nagarpalika is upgraded from
these function to the ones conducted by the municipalities.
2.11.2Functions Assigned by the State Government for gram panchayat
Functions of the gram panchayat as assigned by the state can be referred in section 8.3 in
annex. These functions were prepared in lines of the functions mentioned in the CAA. But
the state has pretty much an exhaustive list compared to the ones by the federal government.
The areas where gram panchayat have to functions starts with education department which
include formal and non-formal education. Then comes health where the panchayat have to
maintain rural dispensaries, health centers, maternity and child welfare centers, etc. then
other areas are transportation, irrigation and water supply, Grow-more-food campaign
looking after weaker sections of the society, improving breeding of cattle, etc. improving
cultivation though usage of waste lands, promoting forestry, and arranging for co-operative
management of land. Issues like rural housing, rural electrification, women and child
development, etc. should be addressed. Implementation of such other schemes as entrusted
to the Gram Panchayats by the Government, etc. these functions take care in an all-round
development of the rural area.
Discretionary functions include construction, maintenance, repair and development of
infrastructure such as street lights, public streets, sources of water such as lakes, wells, etc.
it also include plantation on the streets , regulating markets. The construction and
maintenance of dharmasalas, rest houses, cattle sheds and cart sheds, The establishment and
maintenance of libraries and reading rooms. The elevation and reinforcement of cottage,
khadi, village and small-scale which includes food processing industries. Stopping of
academics, destruction of rabid or ownerless dogs, and disposal of unclaimed cattle.
Encouraging dairy farming, poultry, fisheries whichever is applicable. Cultural activities
including the sports and games and Maintenance of community assets.

Functions of Municipality in Gujarat
The Municipalities have been given enormous powers and functions and they are classified
as under:
a. Obligatory functions;
b. Discretionary functions and
c. Functions delegated by the State Government. (Rana, 2014)
As per the Gujarat Municipalities act 1963 the functions are assigned to municipalities
which can be referred in section 8.4 in annex. The functions under Gujarat Municipalities
act 1963 have been divided in various areas of work. They are as follows:
2.12.1In the Sphere of public works and education
This area includes maintaining public streets, naming and numbering them and to give relief
to person who has been immediately affected and rendered homeless by natural disaster
such as fire, floods, earthquake, draught etc. within the municipal borough. Also
construction, establishment and maintaining primary schools.
2.12.2In the Sphere of Public health and sanitation
Under this section there are various functions which includes prohibition and regulating
dangerous and offensive trade practices. Removal or securing of dangerous buildings and
places and reclaiming unhealthy localities. Securing or removing dangerous buildings or
places and Obtaining a supply or additional supply of water, proper and sufficient for
preventing danger to the health of inhabitants from the insufficiently or unwholesomeness
of the existing supply, when such supply or additional supply can be obtained at a reasonable
cost. Watering public streets, public vaccination, Cleansing public streets and places and
sewers and all places not being private property which are open to the enjoyment of the
public whether such places are vested in the municipalities or not, removing noxious
vegetation and abating all public nuisances. Introducing and maintaining the system of
water closet to dispense with the removal of night soil by carrying the same in a receptacle
cart or other means. Disposing of night soil and rubbish and if so required by the state
government, preparation of compost nature from such night soil and rubbish. Constructing
and altering and maintaining public latrines and urinals. Acquiring and maintaining
changing and regulating places for disposal of the dead and disposal of unclaimed dead
bodies and carcasses of dead animals. Providing special medical aid accommodating for the
sick in time of dangerous disease and taking such measures as may be required to prevent
the outbreak or to suppress and prevent the recurrence of such disease. Establishing and

maintaining public hospitals and dispensaries and family planning centers and providing
public medical relief. Overall this is the section with most exhaustive list having maximum
function related to health and sanitation covered here. They are even more then the once as
delineated by the 74th
CAA. This would ensure smooth working of the municipality
regarding basic activities.
2.12.3In the sphere of development and town planning
Constructing and altering and maintaining public streets, culverts, municipal boundaries
marks, markets, slaughter house, privies, drains, sewers, drainage works, sewage works,
baths, washing places, drinking fountains, tanks, wells, dams and the like. Suitable
accommodation for calves, cows or buffaloes required within the municipal borough for the
supply of animal lymph. Printing of such animal reports of the municipal administration of
borough as may be required by the general or special order of the state government. Paying
the salary and the contingent expenditure on account of such police and guards as may be
required by the municipality for the purposes of this act or for the protection of any
municipal properties. Imparting agriculture by suitable measures including crop protection
and crop experiments. Devising town planning within the limits of the borough according
to the law relating to town planning for the time being in force.
Lighting public streets, places and buildings. Extinguishing fires and protecting life and
property when fire occurs. Removing obstruction and projection in public streets or places
and in spaces not being private property which are open to the environment of the public
whether such spaces vest in municipality or in government. Erecting substantial boundary
marks of such description and in such position as shall be approved by collector, defining
the limits or any alteration in the limits of the municipal borough. Registering births,
marriages and deaths.
From the above instances we can see that tremendous importance is given to the area of
public health, sanitation, development and town planning. But if a quick comparison is
made with the 74th CAA we can’t help but notice that here is an exhaustive list for above,
mentioned areas but unfortunately there is no indication of social and environmental issues.
Urban areas in 3rd world countries have pressing issues regarding housing, strengthening o
weaker sections of the society, environmental conservation, depletion of natural resources,
deforestation, etc. these have been completely neglected by the state in provisions mad
under Gujarat Municipalities act 1963.

Municipal finance in Gujarat
Urban local bodies known as Municipalities and Municipal corporations and are working
on the principle of local self-government in their respective local areas. Municipalities and
Municipal corporations are governed by the Gujarat Municipalities Act, 1963 and Bombay
Provincial Municipal Corporation Act, 1949 respectively. The urban local bodies formed on
the principle of local self-government are expected to cater to the civic needs of people in
their jurisdiction such as water supply, drainage public health, sanitation, recreation,
amenities and others.
Local resources with appropriate external help, are vital and crucial for the growth and
development of local areas. At present urban local bodies are financially helped by State
government by way of grant-in-aid, subsidies and loans etc. Gujarat Municipal Finance
Board was established by the State Government in Year 1979. This renders help and
guidance to the local authorities in respect of their financial resources and advises
Government to lay down criteria for giving various grants and loans.
Institutional Arrangement for Fund Transfer within the State
The state government constituted the Urban Development and Urban Housing Department
(UD&UHD) to support planned development in the state. It came into existence in July,
1983. Gujarat Urban Development Mission (GUDM), Gujarat Urban Development
Company Limited (GUDC), Directorate of Municipalities (DoM) and Gujarat Municipal
Finance Board (GMFB) are the State Level Agencies which comes under UD&UHD. Apart
from this Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage Board (GWSSB) is a State Level Nodal
Agency (SLNA) which helps in implementing schemes for urban water supply and
sanitation to ULBs.
Directorate of Municipalities (DoM)
2.15.1.1.1 Administrative Role:
1. Approval of Municipality Rules / Sub-rules.
2. Approval of staff/Pay scales.
3. Administrative inspection of Municipalities
4. Primary investigation of the charges against the officers of Municipality.
2.15.1.1.2 Semi- judicial Role
About removing the Municipality President / Vice-president / Members and deciding their
roles and responsibilities appealing under Gujarat Municipalities Act, 1963

Gujarat Municipal Finance Board (GMFB)
It was established in 1979 under the legislation passed by Government of Gujarat. The main
objectives of GMFB are as follows:
 Encouraging ULBs in provision of civic amenities by advising on augmenting
financial resources and arranging institutional finance for ULBs. Distributing SFC
funds and grants and implementing centrally – sponsored schemes are under the
control of GMFB.
 It also helps in bringing about administrative efficiency and discipline as well as in
improving infrastructure in the state and handling urban problems.
State Level Nodal Agencies (SLNAs)
State Level Nodal Agencies are the administrative department of the State Government
responsible for implementations of programmes. Gujarat Urban Development Mission
(GUDM) and Gujarat Urban Development Company Limited (GUDC) are the state level
nodal agencies. Both the agencies have been formed to facilitate urban development
especially in regards to infrastructure building, capacity building and project financing.
2.17.1.1 Gujarat Urban Development Mission (GUDM)
GUDM in "City Year - 2005" at the end in order to continue to pursue efforts to Gujarat
Urban Development established. The goal of the mission is to support the development of
urban renewal and urban infrastructure in a given time schedule in order to achieve a better
standard of living, facilities, creating a suitable environment for people to live and work in
urban areas of Gujarat. GUDM main objectives are:
 To support organizations and urban local communities to plan, build, operate,
manage and maintain basic urban infrastructure
 To extend the technology, financial coordination, equipment and planning support
for UWB
 To get the support of private enterprise and the public for the implementation and
maintenance of projects
 To support and provide financial and technical assistance to the slums and informal
settlements
 To strengthen the urban transport system by adopting new integrated transport
network technologies and traffic management

 To strengthen regional and networking of regional city to allow small cities access
to best practices worldwide planning
 Development of heritage sites and allow cities to re-discover their unique philosophy
and identity
2.17.1.2 Gujarat Urban Development Company Limited (GUDC)
GUDC is positioned to facilitate urban development by helping the Government of the State
and the existing agencies in the formulation of policies, institutional capacity building and
implementation of the project, and assist in the financing and implementation implementing
projects. GUDCs role is to assist the state government in terms of preparation of the policy
and strategy for urban development, the upstream collection To- database of current
information on urban development and channelizing subsidies / additional tax sharing
between the state and the ULB on the basis of agreed criteria. Apart from using the state
government, it also helps ULB and UDAs in the identification, removal and viability of new
development areas. ULB UDAs and help in the identification, preparation, structuring and
execution of projects in local infrastructure with / without help from the private sector. The
projects in sectors such as roads, storm water drains, water supply and sanitation, solid waste
management, street lighting and slum upgradation would be given emphasis. Also, provide
advisory support to urban local bodies (ULB) in various aspects of capacity building,
especially upgradation management systems. Support will be provided for institutional
development in accounting, computerization, training and equipment needs, and reforms of
the state-level agencies, including the pool-funding mechanism of municipal bonds in the
markets capital
Gujarat State Finance Commission (GSFC)
Gujarat state has only one SFC so far, which was formulated on 15th
September 1994 in the
development of the state government notification. Interim report in September 1997 and
October urban local bodies in the final report of the Committee, the first report of 98 Gujarat
State Financial Committee is very preliminary, because it lacks experience. Significantly,
the first of the Finance Committee, composed in 1994, which lasted four years, with
decentralized funds to local agencies to submit reports. It makes 63 recommendations for
rural institutions, and institutions for the city's 76 recommendations. Among them, the State
fully accepted 42 recommendations and eight parts of rural local bodies. As the main city,
46 recommendations were accepted fully, three-part, 12 with some modifications. Gujarat

FSFC report is a documentary nature, fiscal decentralization framework, mainly
concentrated in the fight for the source of information about the existing taxes.
Sources of Funds for ULBs
As discussed in the earlier chapter, ULBs have a high dependency on state and central funds
for provision of basic Urban Infrastructure to the cities. The figure below shows the flow
pattern coming to ULBs in different forms. The sources of funds for ULBs are in two forms,
firstly sharing of revenue taxes and secondly sharing through grants- in- aids. The tax
revenue sharing depends on different devolution criteria. The grants- in- aid are largely
through various centrally/ state sponsored schemes and programme.

Aim, Objective and Methodology
3.1. Need for study
3.2. Development in urban fringes
3.3. Rural to urban transformation
3.4. Evolution of growth dynamics
3.5. Study of growth pattern
3.6. Current scenario
3.7. Research question
3.8. Aim
3.9. Objectives
3.10. Conceptual framework
3.11. Structure
3.12. Research methodology

Need for study
Peri-urban areas have remained focus of study of researchers across many disciplines since
many years. Similarly Peri-urban areas of Ahmedabad have also been studied and a
summary of the previous researches done for the Bopal and Ghuma village related to their
growth and governance have been presented below. In-depth study was conducted so as to
understand the existing study and create a background and it also gives the scope of further
research.
Development of urban fringes – a case of Ghuma village
The growth of any City, Village or Settlement is totally depend on, the opportunities it gives
to the people in terms of the
economic development and
accommodation. Apart form these
internal factors, there are certain
external factors like the locational
advantages, which is unique in each
case. Urban sprawl promotes the
spread of urban land use into the
urban finges drawing a larger
number of people into the rural-
urban interface, mostly because of
these internal and external factors.
In such situation, the pressure
increases in the urban area, the
demand of land increases, the land
prices goes up, even the sharing of
basic infrastructure like road network, water supply, sewerage; and natural resources like
land, ground water increases. Apart form that the local authority also tries to imply the
planning framework for the guided development with the control regulations.
The focus of study was to understand the reasons behind the development of urban fringes
of the city and its impacts and study the development trend, intensity of growth in the
Figure 8: Map of Ghuma Village

fringes, find out the issues related to the physical development, infrastructure and the
administrative systems in these areas.
The development trend of the peripheral areas can be studied by referring the various
government data and records. There will be the major dependency on the records and these
records are not properly maintained. The scope of work geographically restricted to Ghuma
village. The method for collection of information about land development process is based
on the informal discussion with the major decision-makers.
Major objectives of the study was to identify growth pattern of city and fringe area, situation
when they are included in authority jurisdiction, and to understand the existing institutional
framework for administration and management of the fringe areas and the discrepancy
existing during its development process.
Issues identified were as follows:
 Panchayats in the fringe areas generally lack the financial resources as well as
technical expertise to plan and manage the speedily developing fringe areas.
 Taxation: The taxes (property and service) are relatively higher in the city than in
the fringe area and therefore attract industries which intensifies development.
 Political considerations: At present decisions regarding the extension of civic limits
in fringe areas are mostly on political consideration, and not based on certain survey
analysis of ground reality situation.
 Weak or no compliance of 74th
CAA: Compliance of 74th
CAA in terms of
constitution of MPC/DPC and prepare Metropolitan and District Development
Plans.
 Weak enforcement of the plan: Regional plans are prepared but the enforcement of
these plans is weak. This is because civic bodies have no effective jurisdiction
beyond the master plan of their area and the village Panchayat officers do not bother
to see the statutory provisions of the regional plans while permitting development in
the urban fringes resulting in large unauthorized haphazard development takes place
in the first belt of the green zones.
 Organization for fringe: It may be the existing civic body or a new development
agency or a private cooperative agency depending upon the prevailing local
condition and the most suitable strategy option tested at that time.

Institutional changes in peri urban areas A Case of Bopal Ghuma Nagarplaika

Institutional changes in peri urban areas A Case of Bopal Ghuma Nagarplaika

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