31
Neem is dominant tree as in other cities in the
north Gujarat. A total of 2,437 Neem trees (1,717
between 250 to 300 cm and 720 trees above
300 cm) have girth at breast height above 250
cm and some of them are very old. Similarly,
1,240 trees of Pipado/Peepal have GBH above
250 cm. The number of Peepal tree (
Ficus
religiosa
) is relatively high and they are also very
old and large. Number of old trees having large
size and dimension is also very high. Majority of
trees near old textile mills, railway line, Kankaria
zoo and cantonment area are old and large. In
addition to above species, Badam, Sargavo,
Borselli, Kasid are other major tree species in
the city.
It is difficult to achieve a norm of green cover or
green space as normally advocated for the urban
areas in developed countries due to the lack of
space. To achieve a minimum tree cover (15 %
of geographical area) in the megacity, the total
number of trees should be increased by three
folds, which is possible to achieve by planting tall
seedlings in the open space and compensating
the gap by taking of tree plantation in the area
of Ahmedabad Development Authority i.e
peripheral villages.
The villages around Ahmedabad have poor tree
cover. These 67 villages have about 7.95 lakh
trees with density of 13.4 trees/ha and tree
cover of 4.75 % of the geographical area. There
are good numbers of bushes of
Prosopis chilensis
in these villages but they are not accounted
for trees because they could not gain 10 cm
girth at breast height due to their cutting at
regular interval for fuel wood. The tree density
in Gandhinagar district is four times the tree
density in the area of AUDA. A part of AUDA is
in Bhal area which is saline where growing trees
is difficult. However, the authority should work
to triple the tree density in the area of AUDA
,
as
scope of improving greenery is less in the area
of Amdabad Municipal Corporation (AMC).
Total tree population in the area of AMC and
AUDA is 14.12 lakh. It may not possible to
achieve a minimum norm of tree cover in the
area of AMC and AUDA, but the administration
should work to increase trees to the level of
about 10% of geographical area. Thus, AMC
and AUDA should work jointly to improve tree
cover to the level of 30.1 lakh. The area around
ponds/lakes should be planted and intensive
horticulture and farm forestry may be promoted
in the peripheral villages to reach near the target.
The vacant institutional lands, compounds of
schools, colleges, societies and other such areas
may be used to raise trees.
Forest Department, AMC and AUDA joined
hand to create a mass movement for greening
Ahmedabad and planted a total of 8.55 lakh
seedlings on 31
st
July, 2010. Of this, 4.01 lakh was
planted in AMC and the rest of 4.54 seedlings
were planted in the villages around Ahmedabad
city (AUDA). The success of plantation in such
a campaign is low, inviting criticism, but such
campaign creates public awakening and mass
participation in tree plantation and their
subsequent care.
Development inandaroundKankariyalakeduring
the recent years as an important recreation site
with greenery in the Zoo compound and around
the lake is noteworthy. A large number of people
visit area every day. Large and old trees provide
resting and nesting sites for birds-a attraction for
the visitors. Picturesque view of the lake and its
surrounding area is due to the presence of trees
around the lakes. There are about three dozen
small and big lakes in the Municipal Corporation
area and some of them may be developed in
similar line by developing walk path and filling
surrounding area with trees.
Carbon store in the trees in Ahmedabad city
has been estimated about 1.27 lakh Carbon
tone and annual sequestration rate may be over
4,640 Carbon tones.
