Geography and climate

Ahmedabad is located at 23.03° N 72.58° E in western India at an elevation of 53 metres (174 feet). The city sits on the banks of the River Sabarmati, in north-central Gujarat. It spans an area of 205 km² (79.15 square miles). The Sabarmati frequently dries up in the summer, leaving only a small stream of water. The city is located in a sandy and dry area. Many of the localities and roads are often spread in sand, reflecting the intensifying fallout caused by deforestation. The steady expansion of the Rann of Kutch threatens to increase desertification around the city area and much of the state. Except for the small hills of Thaltej-Jodhpur Tekra, the city is almost flat. Two lakes are within the city's limits — Kankaria Lake and Vastrapur Lake. Kankaria lake, in the neighbourhood of Maninagar, is an artificial lake developed by the Sultan of Delhi, Qutb-ud-din Aybak, in 1451. According to the Bureau of Indian Standards, the town falls under seismic zone-III, in a scale of I to V (in order of increasing proneness to earthquakes) while the wind and cyclone zoning is "very high damage risk", according to UNDP report.

There are three main seasons: summer, monsoon and winter. Aside from the monsoon season, the climate is dry. The weather is hot through the months of March to June — the average summer maximum is 36 °C (97 °F), and the average minimum is 23 °C (73 °F). From November to February, the average maximum temperature is 30 °C (85 °F), the average minimum is 15 °C (59 °F), and the climate is extremely dry. Cold northerly winds are responsible for a mild chill in January. The southwest monsoon brings a humid climate from mid-June to mid-September. The average rainfall is 93.2 cm (36.7 inches), but infrequent heavy torrential rains cause the river to flood. The highest temperature recorded is 47 °C (116.6 °F) and the lowest is 5 °C (41 °F). In recent years, Ahmedabad has suffered from increasing air, water and soil pollution from neighbouring industrial areas and textile mills.

Ahmedabad is divided by the Sabarmati into two physically distinct eastern and western regions. The eastern bank of the river houses the old city, which includes the central town of Bhadra. This part of Ahmedabad is characterised by packed bazaars, the clustered and barricaded pol system of shanty buildings, and numerous places of worship. It houses the main railway station, the General Post Office, and landmark buildings of the Muzaffarid and British eras. The colonial period saw the expansion of the city to the western side of Sabarmati, facilitated by the construction of Ellis Bridge in 1875 and later with the modern Nehru Bridge. This part of the city houses educational institutions, modern buildings, well-planned residential areas, shopping malls, multiplexes and new business districts centred around C. G. Road, Ashram Road, and more recently, the Sarkhej-Gandhinagar Highway.

Balvantrai Thakore, Sardar Patel and Ganesh Mavlankar at a ceremony held in the municipality compound to celebrate centenary year of the Ahmedabad Municipality in 1935

Ahmedabad is administered by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC). Some of the regions surrounding the city are administered by the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA). The AMC was established in July 1950 under the Bombay Provincial Corporation Act, 1949. For administrative purposes, the city is divided into five zones and 43 wards. Three corporators are elected from each ward, who in turn elect a mayor. Executive powers are vested in the municipal commissioner, who is an IAS officer appointed by the Gujarat state government. The mayor is responsible for the day-to-day running of the municipal school board, the city bus service, the municipal hospital, and the city library. The city serves as the headquarters of Ahmedabad district and as the seat of the Gujarat High Court.

The Ahmedabad city police are headed by a Police Commissioner, an IPS officer. Electricity in the city is provided by Torrent Power AEC Limited, previously a state-run corporation. The city elects one member to the Lok Sabha and seven to the Gujarat Vidhan Sabha. Two main political parties have won a significant number of seats in elections — the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian National Congress. Of the seven assembly seats of Ahmedabad, five were won by the BJP and two by the Congress Party during the legislative elections in 2002. In the 2005 Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation elections, the BJP won 96 seats, 32 seats went to the Congress, and one seat went to an independent candidate.