IS THIS GOVT’S IDEA OFGOING GREEN?

Roads & buildings dept is chopping 200 trees at Sachivalaya to create space for new roads, landscaping, fountains

The New Sachivalaya in Gandhinagar will get better roads and lighting, fountains and an artificial waterfall under a Rs 15-crore project aimed at giving the place a new look. It will, however, lose some of its oldest residents: trees. At least 200 trees on the campus, some 100 years old, are going to be cut to create space for new amenities.

The tree-felling exercise has already begun and is expected to be over in a few weeks. According to a senior official, 40-odd trees will not face the axe. They will be transplanted to another location. The task of removing the trees is being carried out by the state roads & buildings department.

“The department has been given the permission to remove 200 trees,” the district forest officer (Gandhinagar), B A Vyas, told Mirror. “Some of the trees will be carefully removed and planted at another place.” The transplantation of each tree, sources say, is expected to cost Rs 6,000. A machine imported from the US will be used for careful uprooting of the 40-odd trees.

Principal Secretary (roads & buildings) S S Rathore said that trees were being cut for ‘reorientation’ of the New Sachivalaya campus. “We have drawn up plans to give the place a new look. Roads on the premises will be improved and landscaping will be done. There will an artificial waterfall and fountains on the campus,” he said.

Some of the trees that are going to be cut are older than the secretariat. Gandhinagar is the greenest city of Gujarat, but in the past few years, its green cover has reduced. In the past four years alone, an estimated 7,000 trees have been chopped off to widen roads.

The forest department has announced an ambitious plan to help the city sustain its green image. This monsoon, it intends to plant 2.5 lakh saplings and urge residents to look after them.