CAG Report Exposes AMC Drain Project Failures

A report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, tabled in the Gujarat Legislature in May 2026, contains sharp criticism of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s management of its stormwater drain upgrade programme — finding that 34 of the 58 major projects commissioned between 2019 and 2024 remain incomplete, despite an aggregate expenditure of ₹280 crore.

The Scale of the Problem

The stormwater drainage upgrade programme was initiated following the severe urban flooding of 2017 and 2019, which had inundated large areas of Ahmedabad and caused substantial loss to property and livelihoods. The programme was funded through a combination of the Smart Cities Mission allocation and the AMC’s own capital expenditure budget.

The CAG’s findings reveal that of the 34 incomplete projects:

  • 12 have been incomplete for more than three years despite full payment of contracted amounts
  • 8 show work completion of less than 40% against certified bill payments of over 70%
  • 6 have been formally abandoned after partial construction, with no recovery proceedings initiated against the contractors
  • The remaining 8 show progress under 70% with significant time overruns

The Human Cost of Incomplete Drains

The practical consequence of incomplete drain infrastructure is that large sections of Ahmedabad — particularly in the eastern and northern zones where the concentration of incomplete projects is highest — remain vulnerable to the same flooding patterns that the programme was designed to address. Residents of the affected localities have complained repeatedly about flooding during monsoon, and indeed, the areas with the highest density of incomplete projects showed the highest incidence of complaint filings with the AMC’s public grievance system.

The AMC’s Response

The Corporation, in its official response to the CAG findings, attributed delays to contractor defaults, land acquisition difficulties, and utility relocation complications. The CAG rejected several of these explanations as inadequate, noting that the Corporation had continued to certify payments in several cases even after noting contractor underperformance — a practice the CAG characterised as a violation of the terms of the works contracts.

Sandesh has requested the details of the specific projects and contractors involved through RTI, and will publish the project-wise breakdown in a subsequent report.