Paved Today, Plucked Tomorrow: AMC Unearths Fresh Paver Blocks to Plant Saplings for ‘5 Million Trees’ Drive

In a bizarre display of administrative apathy, officials from the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) have reportedly ripped up freshly laid paver blocks on a road in the city’s Vejalpur ward simply to plant saplings directly into the dry sand beneath. The extraordinary move—allegedly carried out to pad numbers for the civic body's ambitious 'Mission 5 Million Trees' initiative—has triggered sharp outrage among local residents after footage of the botched green drive went viral on social media.

The scandal erupted along the stretch connecting Anandnagar to Pancha Talav, where contractors had laid brand-new paver blocks barely 20 days prior. To meet paper targets for the plantation drive, workers prised up the blocks, shoved young saplings into the underlying cement-sand mix, and topped them off with broken, rusted tree guards.

Paper Targets Over Practical Survival

The glaring mishandling highlights a persistent issue with seasonal plantation drives across municipal jurisdictions: a heavy focus on hitting targets for press releases rather than ensuring plant survival. Civic activist groups and local residents pointed out that saplings embedded in packed sand and concrete have zero chance of taking root, making the entire exercise a complete waste of taxpayer funds.

"This is sheer negligence just to show inflated figures on official ledgers," stated a furious Vejalpur resident. "They spent public money laying paver blocks less than a month ago, and now they are tearing the same road up to bury saplings in cement. It is nothing more than a photo opportunity."

This is hardly the first time the AMC's Garden Department has come under fire for shoddy execution. While the civic body routinely claims to plant millions of trees every monsoon, critics have long maintained that officials keep no verified records of sapling survival rates, maintenance schedules, or long-term care.

Civic Officials Scramble as Video Goes Viral

With video footage of the shoddy plantation drive circulating widely online and drawing heavy public criticism, senior civic officials were forced onto the defensive.

"As soon as the matter was brought to our attention, instructions were issued to the concerned supervisory officer to immediately rectify the errors in the plantation work," said AC Patel, Principal Director of the AMC Garden Department. He added that directions have been issued to ensure proper guidance, monitoring, and supervision, even if the work was executed by a third-party agency or local association.

Despite the assurances, residents are demanding a formal inquiry into the destruction of newly laid public infrastructure and calling for accountability over how funds under 'Mission 5 Million Trees' are being monitored on the ground.