Ahmedabad is quietly reversing some of its own urban design decisions. At over 100 junctions in the western parts of the city, paver blocks are being removed and replaced with trees to combat rising temperatures. This initiative comes after years of paving traffic islands, which trapped and reflected heat, particularly during peak summer months.
Work Underway on Major Stretches
Work has already begun on key stretches such as the Usmanpura and Paldi junctions on Ashram Road. This reflects a growing push for greener and cooler areas within the city. An Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) official, speaking on condition of anonymity, stated that the push followed a recent review meeting where instructions were issued to increase green cover at key junctions. The plan involves clearing paver blocks and planting small trees or shrubs in the available spaces.
Questions Over Planning
The development has also raised questions. Sources indicate that paver blocks were laid at several junctions only a year or two ago. Now, these are being replaced with trees, highlighting a lack of planning, they add. This is particularly noticeable on Ashram Road, where an 'iconic road' project is underway between Paldi junction and VS Hospital. Even here, newly installed paver blocks are now being replaced with greenery, prompting questions about why landscaping was not part of the original design.
Broader Tree Plantation Efforts
At a broader level, the civic body has been pushing for tree plantation. Under the Mission 4 Million Trees initiative, about 40 lakh trees were planted in 2025, and under Mission 3 Million Trees, 30 lakh were planted in 2024. For 2026, the target is set at 5 million trees, with budget provisions already in place. Overall, AMC claims to have planted 1 crore trees between 2019-20 and 2024-25.
Survival Rate Concerns
However, despite planting over 70 lakh trees in the past two years, greenery around junctions remains insufficient. A random survey found that 40% of around 75.4 lakh trees planted over the past five years did not survive. This translates to 30.2 lakh trees lost, while 45.3 lakh have grown.
Plan to Plant Trees Along BRTS and Metro Corridors
Since 2019, the AMC has been planting lakhs of trees through the annual Mission Million Trees campaign. However, senior AMC officials have noted that trees have not been planted along 60% to 70% of the 89-km BRTS corridor. A survey will be conducted soon to plan tree planting along both sides of the corridor. Similarly, attention has turned to metro corridors. Open land along metro routes was not fully utilised during earlier plantation drives. To address this, AMC has approved a project to plant and maintain 9,000 trees along these stretches. Initially estimated at Rs 10 crore, the proposal has now been cleared at Rs 11.55 crore after bids came in 11.50% higher than expected.
