Brief History of Gandhidham by Nirmal Vaswani Historical Perspective In February 1947, the British Parliament passed the India

Independence Act according to which the British Government planned to bifurcate the country in two parts India and Pakistan and grant them independence. Prior to independence the British had consolidated their empire in India by integrating almost 500 odd native states into the continent of India. The British had concluded an agreement of the paramountcy with these native states according to which 4 subjects including defence and foreign affairs were ceded to British paramount power. Now when the question of Indian independence came, these native states were also informed that the paramountcy will lapse, when the British withdrew and these native states will become sovereign and will have the right to decide their own future and join any of the independent state India or Pakistan. The Indian Independence Act made it imperative that many Hindus in Pakistan and many Muslims in India will evacuate to the other side Consequently the Hindus of Pakistan were to be rehabilitated and relocated in India. Sindhi Hindus became victims of this decision. After Lord Mountbatten became Viceroy of India, he declared that India will gain independence on 15.8.1947. Between February 47 and August 47, many Sindhi Hindus started looking for rehabilitation and resettlement in India. Kachchh being a contiguous territory to Sindh and with linguistic affinity, Sindhi leader Bhai Partap Dialdas made a visit to Kachchh around June 1947 and met the Maharao of Kachchh for rehabilitating Sindhi Hindu refugees from Pakistan. The Maharao magnanimously welcomed e Sindhi Hindus and promised to give them land near the Port of Kandla. In fact this was the second migration of Sindhi Hindus from Sindh. The first occurred 8 centuries ago, when the Jadejas migrated from Sindh and established their rule in Kachchh. The maharao was, therefore, welcoming only his brothers uprooted from their motherland. 5400 acres of land were to be acquired near the Port where Sindhis will be rehabilitated. Before India become independent many of the states concluded the status quo agreement with Government of India according to which the four subjects ceded to British Paramount power were to be ceded to Government of India. Barring 3 odd states Hyderabad, Jammu & Kashmir and Junagadh all the other native states in India had concluded this agreement with Government of India. Thus the state of Kachchh was independent in all respects as it was in good old days. After 15th August 1947, the work of acquisition of land started in right earnest and Bhai Partap Dialdas also commenced his efforts to plan the township and started the process of rehabilitating Sindhi refugees from Pakistan. In June 1948 Kachchh merged with Indian Union and became a part of India as C class state. In the period between June 1947 to June 1948 Bhai Partap Dialdas had not obtained any documents of the ownership of land from the Maharao of Kachchh. No sooner Kachchh became part of India, Bhai Partap went to Maharao for title documents. The Maharao expressed his inability to do anything and told Bhai Partap to approach the Government of India. Bhai went to meet the Prime Minister Shri Jawaharlal Nehru and the Minister of State, Shri Vallabhbhai Patel who assured him of sympathetic consideration, but made no exception in the case of Gandhidham. After the merger, of native States into Indian Union many cases of land allotment to relatives and friends of erstwhile princely states came to the knowledge of Government of India. This was India wide phenomenon and in 1950, the Government of India passed a resolution saying that all allotments of land by the princely states one year prior to the merger in Union are null and void. As a result our land allotment in Gandhidham also became null and void and the whole process had to be renegotiated. In 1955 a renegotiated settlement came into effect according to which 2600 acres of land were given to SRC Ltd. for development and management on a lease of 99 years and the remaining land was to be retained by Kandla Port and to be leased directly to the persons who wish to settle in Gandhidham. The Government of India appointed a Land Development Board in which the representative of Sindhu Resettlement Corporation Ltd. (SRC Ltd.) and the Government of India were to manage and oversee the land development in Gandhidham. The Secretary of the Land Development Board was one Mr.NaraindaS Vaswani who was an appointee of the Government of India. His assistant was one Mr.K.J.Notani who was an employee of SRC Ltd. During the course of time differences surfaced between Bhai Partap and Mr. Naraindas Vaswani. Mr.M.Ganapati was the Development Commissioner of Kandla Port in those days. Mr. Naraindas convinced Mr.Ganapati to open a Land Department in Kandla Port and pick Mr.K.J.Notani as an Officer of Land Department.

The 99 years lease was reported to be drafted by Mr.K.J.Notani and it contained a provision that no land in Gandhidham area could be transferred without prior permission of the lessor i.e. Kandla Port and by payment of 50% of the unearned increment to the lessor. When the land was being allotted by both Kandla Port and SRC Ltd., the terms of payment in installments and the rate of development charges, which in fact is the price of land, were so low that nobody ever thought of reading between the lines. Moreover persons coming to Gandhidham for rehabilitation had no other choice. They signed the 99 years lease on dotted lines. It is almost 60 years now that Gandhidham has developed and land prices have shot up, that the question of 50% of the unearned increment has become a contentious issue. It has agitated the minds of residents of Gandhidham and the mercantile community, who have been searching for an equitable solution of the problem but have so far failed. Town planning: Our towns inception came immediately after World War -2. World War -2 concluded in August 1945 and the town planners had the devastation of aerial bombardment fresh in their mind and consequently they wanted to locate residential, commercial and industrial complexes away from strategic installations like Ports, oil storages, ordnance factories, etc. Therefore; the Port of . Kandla, oil installations at Kharirohar and the township of Gandhidham, Gopalpuri and Adipur were located separately and at .distances from each other. In hind-sight I have found two deficiencies in the town planning. 1. There is no provision for a grave yard or cremation ground for the entire township. I think town planners thought that only immortals will dwell in this township. 2. The town planners were American and the great net work of American highways were planned and came into being in the early 50s, when a General D.D. Eisenhower was the President of America. I have extensively traveled in America by Road and find that the American Highway System is well planned with adequate parking space at suitable spots. I wonder how the American town planners made no provision for any parking space in planning our township. They should have visualized that the traffic that port will generate will require extensive road traffic and should have provided for adequate parking space while planning the township. Today, we find parking as a major problem in the township, the Port and the highways linking the port with hinterland. Earthquake: California State in US is a seismic zone and in 1904 a massive earthquake flattened the city of San Francisco. Thereafter the American engineers and town planners evolved a concept of row houses to withstand the future shocks of earthquake I have seen the city of San Francisco which is a hilly area, and I have also seen the houses in San Francisco connected with each other, as if they are row houses. Thereafter San Francisco has sustained many earthquake shocks. I dont know, if Bhai Pratap Dialdas visited San Francisco and brought the idea of row houses or it were American town planners who suggested the row houses for new township, Kachchh being in a seismic zone. . But after our town came into being, I have seen two earthquakes in my life time - one in 1956 and the other in 2001. During both these earthquakes row, houses in Adipur, Gandhidham and Gopalpuri emerged safe. While individual multi storeyed building tumbled, row houses were able to sustain the shock fairly effectively. Land Policy : As explained in historical perspectives1 the terms of land allotment for the rehabilitation of Sindhi refugees was not a free hold but a lease hold because the allotment made to us became Null, and Void in consequence of Government of India resolution in 1950. Although the then leaders of the SRC might have understood the implications of this land agreement but the general public who were allottees could not grasp the implications of this agreement nor could they care for what was written. In those days availability of land on such easy terms made the general public oblivious of future complications and therefore every one signed on the dotted line. The terms development charges and unearned increment word simply came to be understood as the price of land and transfer fee. I have observed that the general public has never used the terms development charges or unearned increment in their day to-day dealings but the price of land or the transfer fee are the terms generally understood. In their official communications, the Kandla Port never used the terms the price of land or the transfer fee but they have always used development, charges or the unearned increment.

The Kandla Port as the lessor had reserved unto themselves the right to recover 50% of theunearned increment and also reserved unto themselves, the right to revise and enhance theunearned increment every 10 years of the lease. There was no mechanism described as to the norms and procedure to be followed for deciding on the unearned increment which implied that the lessor could arbitrarily impose their decision on the lesses. More than half a century down the line when the township has prospered and the land prices as we understand have shot up, the people have come to bear the .brunt of implications of the wordunearned increment. Unfortunately there is no understanding between the Kandla Port who manages the land .and the public at large, the leadership also is to blame because they did not display any foresight and did not visualize the future problems that a growing township will face. Now that the town has prospered and everybody is feeling the pressure of facing the situation, Kandla Port is almost non responsive and immune to the difficulties and expressions of the public at large. The general public had two representatives on the Board of Kandla Port. One from Municipality and one Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Gradually, for reasons not known to me, these two seats on the Board of Kandla Port were abolished and the public at large denied any say in the affairs of the Kandla Port which concerns each and every citizens of Gandhidham. I feel we lack any political force and cannot expect our voice to be heard by those in power. My only hope is the judiciary which may redeem us from the pain of arbitrary implementation of the lease deed. I had filed a Public Interest Litigation with the Supreme Court of India but as individual I could not pursue the PIL. I therefore handed over the file to Gandhidham Chamber of Commerce & Industry for pursuing this Public Interest Litigation in the Supreme Court. I had given great importance to the definition of word unearned increment. I think the lease agreement offered to us may not be unique but basic structure of lease offered to us may be based on such lease agreements concluded throughout the country. I, however, find the term unearned increment needing an explanation and definition. I had referred to many dictionaries but could not find unearned increment as one word in any dictionary. I had sought an explanation from my friend, Mr.K.J.Notani but he avoided the issue and would not offer any elaboration on the subject. Fortunately some 30 years back, I came upon a dictionary Websters New Twentieth Century Dictionary Unabridged 2nd Edition published in America in 1978. The termunearned increment is described as one word on page 1996 of this dictionary. Unearned increment - The increase in the value of land or other property in consequence of general causes such as the growth of population1 the institution of rail-roads, the, building of factories, etc. In contradistinction to that increase which is direct result of expenditures labour, and improvements made on the land or the property by its owner. I believe the definition of Webster is absolutely unambiguous that the plots that are undeveloped and sought to be transferred or sold should pay what Kandla Port describes as Unearned increment. For those . plots which have been developed by the investment in money and labour by the people over the years attract no Unearned increment as these people have earned the increment that is sought to be taxed. My understanding of this definition is that the developed plots have virtually become immune to the provisions of recovery of Unearned increment. Simply put the developed plots are not subject to payment of 50% of the unearned, increase at the time of transfer of these plots or properties. By implications all the properties built and sold by SRC are not subject to the provisions of the lease deed in so far as the transfer of the property is concerned. It is upto the Chamber now to pursue this point in the general interest of people at large and bring an equitable resolution of this problem. I think this is more than sufficient on land policy. Future Prospects: One could not have imagined that town so young would make this phenomenal progress. The first progress that I consider to be of vital importance is the cosmopolitan character of our town. For a population of 250 to 300 thousand I dont find any other town in the country which is so cosmopolitan in character. You can see that the whole country is represented in our town. People from Kashmir to Kanya Kumari and from Khavda to Howrah are settled here. What is more, is that our town has so embraced and integrated these communities that the 3rd and 4th generation of the settlers here refuse to go to their ancestral native places. Such is the magnetic pull of Kandla - Gandhidham area. Bhai Pratap Dialdas had always said that great Port cities are never built by any one community. It is the cosmopolitan efforts of all the communities that built the great cities like Karachi, which we lost in 1947. How true this prophecy of Bhai Pratap! The other great port cities which I can visualize and would like to evaluate are Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai.

These port cities were planned with a broad outlook and welcomed settlers and investors from throughout the world. Although Dubai had small oil revenue when it commenced its journey to progress, today its non-oil revenue far exceeds its oil revenue and its pace of progress is simply mind, blowing. Similarly Singapore has progressed out of all proportions or its size as a City - State. When the British handed back Hong Kong to China, it was not the tiny piece of barren land that the Chinese had leased to the British a century back. Fortunately the Chinese have set aside their communist ideology and philosophy and pursued the British policy of welcoming the world investors and guaranteeing the repatriation of those investments. When Kandla was declared as a major port it had no immediate or mediate hinterland. but the nearest hinterland for Kandla Port were the State of Rajasthan; Punjabl and Haryana which were morean 1000 kms. from KandIa Port. The planners of the Kandla Port had felt that unless the Port had immediate hinterland its progress would not be to the desired levels. They therefore planned industrialization in the form of Kandla Free Trade Zone and had imagined that the Free Trade Zone will generate enough traffic to give a fillip to the Port. Unfortunately this did not happen. Fortunately for us the township of Gandhidham has prospered and the land that Kandla Port manages as a lessor has started yielding lucrative revenues in the form of ground rent and unearned increment at the time of transfer of plots. These funds are unfortunately locked up as dead corpus with Kandla Port Trust and are not re-employed for the further development and progress of the township which has immense potential for generating both industrial and commercial revenues. I see no reason why we cannot develop like Singapore and offer many financial and other services to the world at large. I know Singapore today aspires to compete with Swiss Banks in providing the numbered accounts. I dont visualize such services being offered from India but I certainly feel that the Sindhis, Gujaratis and Marwaris settled in Gandhidham can certainly offer other world class financial services and develop this township as a hub of financial services. We are fortunate that a disproportionate number of 3rd generation of settlers in Gandhidham are now spread throughout the world and are very successful businessmen or service providers. I consider this to be a very valuable resource and asset of Gandhidham. It only needs to be tapped properly and I am sure these sons of soil will work wonders for KandlaGandhidham area if invited to participate in this huge venture. I also feel that this flow of youth from Gandhidham to various parts of the world has become a continuous phenomenon and these youth from Gandhidham have certain affection and attachment with Gandhidham which we must exploit to the best advantage of the Gandhidham. I am sure the generation that will be born and brought up in various countries will have no attachment for Gandhidham and therefore we must exploit the sentiments, of generation that have attachment and affection for Gandhidham. I dont know how to give practical shape to this project but I am sure all the agencies interested or concerned with the development of Kandla Gandhidham must strive together to evolve a grand plan to involve these NRIs from Gandhidham. I feel we should evolve a conciliatory approach and weld all agencies together. This is feasible and we must try. Nirmal Vaswani F-4, Sharda Apartment Plot No.78, Sector-I, Gandhidham - Kachchh