40% of 55 lakh trees planted by AMC in 4 years perished

AHMEDABAD: A survey conducted by the city civic body on the survival rate of the saplings planted in the last four years has revealed that about 40% of them have perished. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation planted 55.38 lakh saplings from 2019-2023. According to the survey, about 22.15 lakh saplings did not survive.
When asked about the reasons behind this high non-survival rate, officials in the AMC's parks and garden department said that the saplings die because of stray cattle and some also don't survive because of adverse weather and soil conditions.
"Most of the saplings planted in the gardens and open plots have survived. Most of the saplings that wilted away were planted on the dividers and footpaths. The saplings planted in open plots and gardens are protected from stray animals as they have tree guards around them," said an AMC official who did not wish to be named.
The official said that the saplings that are planted on road dividers and on footpaths are exposed to stray animals.
Starting from June 5, the AMC will launch a four-month long 'Mission Green Ahmedabad, Clean Ahmedabad' campaign under which 25 lakh saplings will be planted across the city.
The survey report prepared by the AMC claims to have developed dense urban forests on 104 plots in the range of 227 sq m to 2,79,761 sq m. The AMC has also decided to increase the city's green cover to 15% from the current 12%.
In July-September 2022, the AMC and the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (Auda) planted 22 lakh trees across Ahmedabad city and surrounding areas at an approximate expenditure of Rs 36 crore.
Sources said that AMC planted 21 lakh trees for Rs 20 crore while Auda planted 1 lakh trees for Rs 16 crore.
Auda's expenditure on 1 lakh trees was around 20 times higher than that of AMC's as it had contracted the plantation job, which included installation of tree guards and two-year maintenance, to private firms.
Sources said that Auda planted 25,000 trees alongside a 75-km stretch of SP Ring Road and service roads at an expense of Rs 10 crore.
In another tender, 75,000 trees were planted in 75 villages falling under Auda's jurisdiction. In each village, an Amrutvan having 1,000 trees is being developed under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav campaign. Auda spent Rs 6 crore on this project.
In the last five years, AMC has allowed 12,000 trees to be chopped. Of these, 3,298 were cut by individuals or institutions while 400 were chopped illegally. The remaining 8,328 were cut for various infrastructure projects.