After chopping 12,000 trees in seven years, Ahmedabad plans to go green
Updated: Jul 19th, 2025
Over the past seven years, the Amdavad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has cut down nearly 12,000 mature trees under the guise of various development projects. Now, in an effort to transform Ahmedabad into a “greener city,” the Standing Committee has urgently approved a proposal to implement a new Urban Greening Policy.
In the last two years alone, more than ₹100 crore has been spent on planting 70 lakh saplings and trees. Yet, the city continues to grapple with polluted air and rising temperatures.
Since 2011, AMC has spent crores annually on increasing Ahmedabad’s green cover through initiatives such as “Oxygen Parks” and “Biodiversity Parks.” However, the stark reality is that the Corporation itself has destroyed over 12,000 mature trees to make way for metro rail projects, flyovers, and “iconic” roads in the past seven years. In addition, more than 3,000 trees have been illegally felled across the city over the last five years without official permission from AMC.
Under the new Urban Greening Policy, the city plans to develop rain gardens, rooftop gardens, lake gardens, urban forests, and ecological parks. Every new Town Planning (TP) scheme will be required to allocate at least 5% of its total area to green cover, with 1% specifically dedicated to urban forests developed using the Miyawaki method.
An Urban Greening Advisory Committee will also be formed, comprising urban planners, environmental experts, representatives from the builder association, the chamber of commerce, and NGOs. This committee will hold monthly meetings focused on making the city greener.
Notably, AMC has not disclosed any data on the survival rate of the saplings planted. Of the 40 lakh saplings planned for this year, only 10 lakh have been planted so far.
1,000 trees chopped for new road
Around a year and a half ago, over ₹35 crore was spent to develop the stretch from Hansol Circle to Indira Bridge into an “iconic road.” In the process, AMC cut down 1,000 trees — including many grown in the Forest Department’s nursery and those lining both sides of the road.
Similarly, to construct a flyover at Panjrapol Junction, AMC uprooted 80 mature trees — each over 50 years old — along the road from Polytechnic to IIM. These trees were removed entirely, roots and all, to make way for the project.
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