In the late 1970s , the capital shifted to the newly built , well-planned city of Gandhinagar . This marked the start of a long period of decline in the city , marked by a lack of development . The 1974 '' Nav Nirman '' agitation – a protest against a 20 % hike in the hostel food fees at the L.D. College of Engineering in Ahmedabad – snowballed into a movement to remove Chimanbhai Patel , then chief minister of Gujarat . In the 1980s , a reservation policy was introduced in the country , which led to anti-reservation protests in 1981 and 1985 . The protests witnessed violent clashes between people belonging to various castes . The city suffered some of the impact of the 2001 Gujarat earthquake ; up to 50 multi-storey buildings collapsed , killing 752 people and causing much damage . The following year , a three-day period of violence between Hindus and Muslims in the western Indian state of Gujarat , known as the 2002 Gujarat riots , spread to Ahmedabad ; refugee camps were set up around the city
2001 Gujarat earthquake
2001 Gujarat earthquake
Ahmedabad