The decision, taken at Friday's meeting chaired by Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel, is being interpreted as a "move to boost the activity of some influential builders and land organisers of Ahmedabad, who have been facing recessionary trends in their business for sometime now".

However, N V Vasani, Science and Technology Advisor to the Chief Minister, does not concur. "It is mere slander. It was purely on environmental grounds that the Government decided to shift the science city site from Gandhinagar to the Sarkhej-Gandhinagar highway West of Ahmedabad", Vasani told The Indian Express today.

He said now that the site for the proposed science city was finalised, the Government would soon send a detailed proposal to the Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry, seeking financial assistancefor the project. The Planning Commission has already recommended this to the Centre.

The Union HRD Ministry has already sanctioned financial assistance for setting up similar science city projects at Jalandhar and Lucknow, as the Punjab and Uttar Pradesh Governments had already finalised the sites for the project.

Vasani said as soon as the HRD Ministry cleared the State's proposal for financial assistance, work on the proposed science city would be taken up on the sprawling government "gaucharland" (wasteland) near Sola village off the Sarkhej-Gandhinagar highway. About 200 to 300 acres of the wasteland is lying vacant there, and there should not be any environmental problem for the project, he said.

The Government had earlier planned to set up a science city on 200 acres of land across the Sabarmati river overseeing the famous Indroda Park on the outskirts of the State Capital. Since a large number of trees on this land would have to be cut to facilitate the project, the Government wascompelled to review its earlier decision and shift the site.

Besides, the State Forest and Environment Department was not in favour of allotting land near Indroda Park for the science city project, saying the dense tree cover there would be endangered, if trees were allowed to be cut without compensatory afforestation.

Union Minister of State for Environment Maneka Gandhi too had warned the State Government against setting up a science city at the cost of full-grown trees on the land.