30 C
Surat
Friday, February 14, 2025
30 C
Surat
Friday, February 14, 2025

‘Axe one tree, plant 10 in its place’


Ahmedabad: Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) is preparing a draft of the City Greening and Beautification Policy, which will have new, stricter rules against illegal tree felling.
The GPMC Act currently demands that for every tree chopped illegally in a residential society or a commercial complex, two must be planted in its place and a Rs 1,000 deposit per tree planted be paid to the civic body.
The AMC refunds this deposit money three years later, subject to proof that the new trees planted are grown and thriving. Additionally, the fines for environmental damage caused by cutting trees for commercial benefits currently range from Rs 1,000 to Rs 27,000. The new draft policy proposes to tighten these rules in a bid to prevent illegal tree felling and enhance the city’s greenery.
It proposes that illegal chopping of one tree in residential and commercial complexes will require not one, but 10 new trees to be planted within three years with a deposit of Rs 5,000 per tree.
The replacement trees can be planted anywhere in the city and must be maintained, failing which, the deposit will be forfeited. This will be topped with fines for environmental damage.
Other regulations are also in the pipeline. The General Development Control Regulations (GDCR) currently require builders to plant five trees for every 200sq m of development, with deposits of Rs 1,000 per tree for residential and Rs 2,000 for commercial projects. It has been proposed to raise this amount to Rs 7,500 per tree. AMC sources said new rules are also being proposed regarding tree planting in new road projects. On roads wider than 24m, the divider must be 1.5m wide to allow for planting while maintaining original soil under the divider.
Roads 24m or wider require circular tree pits 1m wide, while narrower roads will mandate 2.5x 2.5-foot pits. Space must be left on footpaths on both sides of roads for planting a tree every 5m, with tree pits designed to allow water access, the draft policy proposes.
Recently, AMC fined two companies Rs 1 crore in total for illegally cutting 536 trees overnight in the western part of the city to make their advertisement boards visible. These companies must now plant 4,000 trees. Chitra (B) Publicity Co cut down 24 trees, and Zaveri & Co. Ltd. cut 512 trees, resulting in the Rs 1 crore fine.
In May 2024, the civic body took strict action against a contractor for illegally cutting seven trees and damaging municipal property.
The contractor cut trees in the Viratnagar skating rink garden area, resulting in a Rs 5 lakh administrative charge notice from the parks and gardens department and a Rs 1.50 lakh charge from the engineering department for damage to the rink’s structure. A police complaint was filed against the contractor at the Nikol police station.
No repurposing garden plots
The draft City Greening and Beautification Policy includes a prohibition on changing the purpose of plots reserved for gardens or urban forestry in town planning (TP) schemes. Once the final approval is received, these plots cannot be repurposed. Currently, plots intended for gardens are often used for other purposes. AMC has been repurposing garden plots for various development projects. For instance, in Memnagar, Chandlodia and Jamalpur, garden plots were demolished for water tanks and other developments. In Navrangpura ward, a garden was quietly converted into parking. In 2021, Bhairavi Garden was demolished for a water tank and pumping station. In 2022, Gajanan Garden in Chandlodia was demolished for a water distribution station. The Bhikhabhai Garden near Ellis Bridge was renovated but had a road built through it, reducing its area by 3,000 sq m.





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