100 Trees Hacked To Death To Make Space For Gujarat Government's 'Vibrant Summit'

Gandhinagar is on a beautification overdrive. Preparations for Gujarat government¡¯s mega event to attract global investors have led to road widening, recarpeting and transforming the capital city in time for the Vibrant Summit next month.

The casualty, however, has been full-grown trees that once gave Gandhinagar the tag of greenest capital city in the country. At least 100 trees have been cut to widen the 5-km stretch from Sargasan to Mahatma Mandir, venue for the summit, according to the Gandhinagar residents association.

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A forest official too confirmed the figure on condition of anonymity. Giving face-lift to a nursery at the entrance to the city at Ch zero has also resulted in the felling of more than 15 full grown trees and the cultivation of saplings has fallen from 5 lakh to 3.5 lakh. Felling of trees due to rapid urbanisation has reduced green cover and with concrete buildings emitting more heat, the result has been the rise in temperature, according to environmentalists. Confirming the cutting of trees, Arun Buch, president of Gandhinagar Vasahat Mandal said, ¡°At least 100 trees have been hacked for road widening. More trees will be cut for the development of railway station as well.¡±

A forest official who is close to the development confirmed the number on condition of anonymity. Referring to the thousands of trees cut for construction of Mahatma Mandir, environmentalist Mahesh Pandya said, ¡°Development is fine, but that should not be at the cost of environment. The reducing green cover over the years has resulted in a rise in temperature.¡± Questioning the rationale behind the road widening, Pandya said, ¡°Cutting down trees to widen road seems impractical as there was no need. Last year for the prime minister¡¯s visit, all security checks were done and the road was freshly laid and wide enough to tackle the rush, then why is it being widened again.¡±

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According to environmental activist Anjana Nimavat, ¡°Development should not destruct nature and there was no need to widen the road. The tree cover has gone down over the years and this is a big concern.¡±

Trees Axed In Nursery, Too

At Ch zero circle there was a nursery at the corner of Sector 2. According to forest officials, there were plans to relocate the nursery and develop the place into a garden after felling the trees. After much discussion, the nursery remains at the same place, but the forest department is now developing a garden there, for which around 15 full-grown trees have been hacked, an official confirmed. Chief Conservator of Forest N S Yadav said, ¡°We are beautifying the nursery with garden and walking the track for Vibrant Gujarat Summit. After much efforts, we have saved the land from going back to government. Space was transformed in the past 20 days and is ready to look beautiful in next few days.¡±

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Steep Fall In Green Density

As per the state government¡¯s tree census carried out in 2011and published in 2012, 53.9 per cent of its 5,700-hectare area was covered with trees. This effectively meant, 416 trees for every 100 people in the city, which was more than any other city in the country. The capital¡¯s green density saw a steep fall from 152 trees per hectare in 2011to just 63 in 2013, according to the state forest department.

This is a marked shift from 425 trees per hectare in 1995. Jagdish Prasad, additional principal chief conservator of forest for social forestry said, ¡°The last census was conducted in 2011for urban areas and it takes place every five years. But it cannot happen without the support of corporations. We are in discussion with authorities on deciding how to carry out the census where we do not face challenges in accessing private areas as well. Green space is more important than a number of trees, so now to calculate green space, we are also planning to carry out census using satellite mapping.¡±