Months after PM Modi inaugurated Sudarshan Setu, why all development in Gujarat's Okha and Dwarka has stalled | Ahmedabad News

I want to build a house on a plot of land I purchased on Nageshwar Road, as our family house is turning out to be small now that my children have grown up. But for the past three months, I have been going around the Dwarka municipality office, hoping that my development plan will be approved and that I will be able to benefit from a bank loan to finance the construction of my house. But the municipal agents refuse my request, saying that they no longer have powers after the creation of DOUDA. “I don’t know where DOUDA’s office is,” says a 42-year-old man employed at a well-known guest house in Dwarka.

The decision to name DOUDA came 10 days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Sudarshan Setu, a sea link connecting Beyt Dwarka Island to mainland Gujarat via Okha town in Devbhumi Dwarka district on February 25, on which lies the important pilgrimage site, the Shree Dwarkadhish Mukhya Mandir.

With Sudarshan Setu ending the dependence of tourists on ferry services from Okha to Beyt Dwarka to reach the island, the number of pilgrims to Beyt Dwarka has seen an unprecedented increase.

Since the inauguration of Sudarshan Setu, tourist footfall has increased to an unimaginable scale. People want to build houses, shops, restaurants, hotels etc. The decision to set up DOUDA is welcome for the planned development of the Dwarka-Okha corridor. But the government has been slow in making this new body operational, says Subhash Bhayani, president of Dwarka Taluka Chamber of Commerce and Industry and two-time chairman of Okha Municipality.

State government officials say the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections is to blame for the delay. The MCC came into force on March 16, just ten days after DOUDA's announcement, and delayed things. The MCC remained in force till the beginning of June and hence the functional marking work of DOUDA remained stalled for around three months, an official said.

With Sudarshan Setu ending the dependence of tourists on ferry services from Okha to Beyt Dwarka to reach the island, the footfall of pilgrims at Beyt Dwarka has seen an unprecedented increase. (Express Photo by Gopal Kateshiya)

Development is at a standstill

The town of Dwarka is famous for the Dwarkadhish Temple, a shrine of Lord Krishna, while Okha, located about 30 km north of Dwarka, is a port town. Beyt Dwarka is part of Okha Municipality. The twin municipalities are part of the Dwarka taluka of Devbhumi Dwarka district, which is also home to the famous Nageshwar temple, one of the 12 sacred jyotirlingas in the country.

On March 6, the Gujarat government issued a notification announcing the formation of DOUDA, a new special agency. The Dwarka Collector is the ex-officio chairman of DOUDA. The other ex-officio members are the Member Secretary of the Gujarat Pavitra Yatradham Vikas Board, the District Development Officer of Devbhumi Dwarka, the President of the Dwarka District Panchayat, the Regional Municipal Commissioner of Rajkot, the State Chief Town Planner or his nominee and the Municipal Engineer of Dwarka Municipality.

The additional resident collector (RAC) of Devbhumi Dwarkas has been appointed as ex-officio member secretary of the new body. The newspaper said the government will appoint four members from local authorities as members of DOUDA.

While announcing the DOUDA, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel had said that the move would facilitate tourism and infrastructure development in 10,721 hectares (107.21 sq km). Apart from the twin municipality area, the government has also brought Varvala, a village on the outskirts of Dwarka city, and Shivrajpur, a village where the famous Shivrajpur Beach, a Blue Flag beach (an eco-label given to beaches), is located, under the jurisdiction of DOUDA.

But almost four months later, DOUDA has not yet taken shape.

Devbhumi Dwarka RAC Bhupesh Jotaniya admits that DOUDA is only on paper at the moment. The Authority has not yet been executed. The government has not yet appointed its members (except ex officio). Issues such as office building, staff, etc. are also pending. Therefore, we are not able to accept applications from people at the moment, Jotaniya told The Indian Express.

According to a state government official, the Department of Urban Development on June 22 approved the recruitment of staff for the new body. From now on, the 63 positions approved for DOUDA will be filled. It is possible that these positions could be filled through delegations from other departments, the official added.

People have nowhere to go

However, the delay has left residents and officials on edge.

People are running from one end of the land to the other as both municipalities have stopped considering applications for approval of development plans and permission to start work. Such applications are also not being accepted online on the government’s Online Development Permission System (ODPS), says Bhayani.

With people having nowhere to go to seek approval for development plans and building permits, a lot of unauthorised construction is taking place, says Raman Samani, former president of the Dwarka Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Uday Nasit, chief of Dwarka Municipality, says he is helpless. Around 15 applications were pending when the Dwarka Municipality’s powers as ADA were withdrawn. People approach us with permission applications to construct residential and commercial buildings. But we no longer have the authority to accept and process them. So we have to reject them, he says.

There is no need to get a government-approved development plan to build a private house on a plot measuring up to 125 square metres and the land owner only needs to inform the ADA about the commencement of the work. But since the ADA status has been withdrawn, we also do not have the authority to accept such information, Nasit adds.

Besides, the Dwarka municipality has no elected body since the tenure of a BJP-led board ended in February last year, with elections stuck along with other bodies premises, due to the pending decision on the quota for the Other Backward Classes community. People face difficulties as there is no one to review their applications. Many of them share their grievances with us in this regard and we find it difficult to reason with them, said a BJP leader in Dwarka.