Gandhinagar is the greenest capital in the world:
GANDHINAGAR: Some years ago when a worldwide survey adjudged Islamabad as the greenest national capital in the world, the authorities in Gandhinagar started counting the number of trees in Gujarat's capital city.
Islamabad's record of 325 trees per hectare was a tall order to emulate. But when the count ended in Gandhinagar, officials were surprised to find there were 425 trees per hectare.
Today, if you try telling people that Gandhinagar is the greenest capital in the world, you will probably get a snigger from those who have an impression that Gujarat is a semi-arid region with a perpetual problem of drought.
But Gandhinagar, perhaps, has the statistics which would turn other cities green with envy. With 32 lakh trees for a 1.5 lakh population, Gujarat's capital has an enviable 22 trees per person.
That's saying a lot, considering that the nearest city, Ahmedabad, does not even average one tree per person.
There are of course no surveys for Ahmedabad which can help draw a comparison.
As one drives from Ahmedabad towards Gandhinagar, the scenery starts to change. A cramped, dusty landscape is slowly replaced by wide open spaces and a blur of green from the canopy of lakhs of trees that envelope Gandhinagar. Your lungs, which choke in Ahmedabad, can tell the difference.
According to the forest department Gandhinagar has 32 lakh trees, made up with 35 species including neem, gulmohar, banyan, pipal, mahua and rhine, in its 56 square kilometres. There are, however, some concerns that the officials are being forced to deal with.
With no healthy monsoon for the last three years, ground water here has already gone below 800 feet leaving the trees high and dry. "The only solution is implementing water harvesting and conservation programmes," says Desai.
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