First town planner of Gujarat Jamnadas Patel, who turned 100-year-old on Saturday, said the original Sabarmati Riverfront conceptualised by him and French architect Bernard Cohen was on the lines of the Seine river, which is a commercial waterway within the Paris Basin. He was speaking during a felicitation ceremony at Cept University.

“I alongwith Bernard Cohen had initially envisaged the urban Sabarmati riverfront to be on the lines of the one at Seine river as Cohen had studied in France. We also had made extensive planning based on data that we gathered on how the water level could remain below 5 feet for all 12 months of the year and also on how the riverfront could be used for boating and entertainment and we also got surplus land allotted for the project. However, years later the project was revived after Narendra Modi took a look at the plans that we had made,” said Jamnadas Patel at the ceremony. 1

Patel, who was instrumental in setting up the Isro centre in Ahmedabad, Sabarmati riverfront development and later on the expansion of Ambaji temple, also shared some of his experiences, and about his visits to people ranging from Mahatma Gandhi and to former Gujarat chief minister and present PM Narendra Modi.2