If you have been feeling uneasy in Ahmedabad, don't just blame the pollution. The forest cover of the district has also been on the decline. In fact, it is one of the few districts in Gujarat to record a decline in overall forest cover, this was revealed in the State of Forest Report 2017. The district has recorded a 13.4% drop in forest cover.
In fact, in the two years between the forest report of 2017 and 2015, the district saw its Moderate Dense Forest cover coming down to 12 square km from 14 in 2017. Similarly the open forest area of the district came down to 117 square km from the earlier 135 sq km in 2015.
The percentage of geographical area under forest cover also came down to 1.6% from 1.71% two years ago. It should however be noted that the overall geographical area that was covered for the survey also came down. So could that explain the fall in forest cover?
No, believe people who have worked in the field of environment. "There is only one thing to be blamed, indiscriminate development. Townships, industrial parks, roads and bridges are coming up connecting the city to the neighbouring talukas. The price we have paid for this is the drop in green cover," said Mahesh Pandya, an environmentalist who has championed the green cause for several decades. Pandya said as of now there is no check on tree felling. "In fact, you will be surprised to know that people don't need to take permission to cut a tree for large scale projects. Even if they do it, the fine is a miniscule one," said Pandya.
He also blamed the plantation efforts of the authorities. Everytime trees are cut, government bandies the tree plantation that it has carried out. "But what no one asks is how successful the plantations are. They have a high mortality rate. So what we have here is people are allowed to cut large number of trees, they plant new trees in its stead, most of which don't survive," said Pandya.
SJ Pandit, DCF, Ahmedabad could not be contacted for his comments.
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No, believe people who have worked in the field of environment. "There is only one thing to be blamed, indiscriminate development. Townships, industrial parks, roads and bridges are coming up connecting the city to the neighbouring talukas. The price we have paid for this is the drop in green cover," said Mahesh Pandya, an environmentalist who has championed the green cause for several decades. Pandya said as of now there is no check on tree felling. "In fact, you will be surprised to know that people don't need to take permission to cut a tree for large scale projects. Even if they do it, the fine is a miniscule one," said Pandya.)
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