Ahmedabad: AMC’s garden department has set a target of planting 50 lakh trees across the city within three months under its ‘Mission Five Million Trees’ campaign this monsoon. As part of the drive, plans have been drawn up to plant trees on open plots and along both sides of city roads. However, the implementation has raised concerns, with newly built footpaths being dug up to create pits to plant trees.In some areas, pits have been dug on narrow footpaths, potentially making movement difficult for pedestrians. There is also no clarity on whether tree planting is being planned taking footpath width into account. In Memnagar, pits were dug after breaking a newly constructed footpath, while at the Shahpur end of Gandhi Bridge, pits have been dug in the middle of a footpath less than one metre wide, rendering it virtually unusable for pedestrians.An AMC official said, “In western areas of Ahmedabad, including Bodakdev, Memnagar, Naranpura and Chandkheda, where new footpaths have been constructed and are sufficiently wide, plans have been made to plant trees. Pits have been dug on these footpaths to plant trees. If any footpath is less than one metre wide and pits have been dug there, then trees will not be planted. The matter will be investigated.”According to sources, only 28% of Ahmedabad’s roads have footpaths. “AMC announced in its 2026-27 budget to make city roads more pedestrian-friendly. The road design cell plans to convert 200km of roads into pedestrian-friendly stretches at an estimated cost of Rs 50 crore. Work on installing railings between roads and footpaths has also begun,” the official added.AMC disclosed details of the city’s footpath network in its 2023-24 budget. According to information on page 104 of the budget document, Ahmedabad has a road network of 2,634km, including roads ranging from 20 feet to 200 feet wide. Roads up to 60 feet wide account for 1,929km, while roads between 60 feet and 200 feet wide span 905km. Footpaths exist along roads with a combined length of 731.43km.The civic body stopped publishing footpath-related details in budget books after 2023-24.Between 2021 and 2023, AMC did not construct footpaths on newly built roads wider than 60 feet in both western and eastern parts of the city. Subsequently, it repeatedly floated tenders for footpaths and street furniture on roads wider than 60 feet, but failed to attract contractors.In April 2023, the AMC issued a Rs 50-crore tender for new footpaths, but all bidders were disqualified. A second tender drew no participants. The AMC then switched to zone-wise tenders, issuing six tenders covering seven zones, each valued at Rs 10 crore.These tenders were floated three times without attracting any bids. In the fourth round, one bid was received for the West Zone, while two firms expressed interest in the North West and South West Zones. Based on these responses, the standing committee approved a Rs 9.69-crore tender in Dec 2024 against the estimated Rs 10 crore cost for footpath construction in the North West and South West zones. Work on new footpaths along existing roads has since begun in several parts of the city.An AMC official, requesting anonymity, said, “AMC has been approving new footpath projects for the past two years. Besides this, works worth Rs 400 crore have been sanctioned to develop seven roads, including Ashram Road, as iconic roads, where footpath construction is planned. Various roads selected under precinct area development projects are also undergoing footpath development through works worth Rs 334 crore.”
