6 lakh saplings were planted in the city last year for a place in the Guinness book of records. But a large number of those saplings perished because of neglect, say environment activists.
The race to become a megacity has cost Ahmedabad heavily in terms of green cover. More than 1000 trees in the city were felled in the past three years to make way for development projects, mainly construction and widening of roads.
Figures available with the Ahmedabad municipal corporation (AMC) indicate that in the last three years, the civic body chopped down 1,133 age-old trees. Of these, the maximum number was felled in the year 2010-11, when 562 trees were cut.
Technically, it is the parks and garden department of the AMC which grants permission for a tree to be cut. Talking about the number of trees felled in different years, an official of the parks and gardens department told DNA that in 2009-10, permission to cut 297 trees was given. "But in 2010-11, 562 trees and in 2011-12, 274 trees had to be chopped down," the official said.
Environment activists and even ordinary Amdavadis are appalled at the figures. However, Falguni Joshi, an environment activist, alleged that many more trees had been cut in the city than indicated by AMC figures. "I believe AMC data do not tell the whole story. The city has, in fact, lost many more trees," she said.
Expressing a similar view, Mahesh Pandya, another activist, said that 6 lakh saplings were planted in the city last year for a place in the Guinness Book of Records. "But how many of the saplings survive is the big question. A large number of saplings perished because of neglect," he said.
Pandya further alleged that in many cases sapling plantation for protection of the environment had taken place only 'on paper'. "The fact is that the city's green cover is shrinking rapidly," he said.
Joshi expressed surprise that trees were cut sometimes for wider roads and sometimes for new schemes - all in the name of city's development.
"But as in the case of trees that are to be felled in Paldi and on Gujarat College road, local residents do not want the trees to be cut. The AMC should first ask people living nearby whether they want the trees to be felled or not. This will make it clear whether trees really need to be chopped down for development," Joshi said.
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