Ahmedabad: In an example of urban greening success, Union home minister Amit Shah stated on Saturday that sustained environmental efforts have lowered Gandhinagar’s average temperature by 2 to 3 degrees celsius. Shah credited the drop to the 1.5 crore saplings planted across his Lok Sabha constituency over the last three years.Reviewing the constituency’s environmental and developmental projects at a meeting with officials, Shah called for an even larger, multi-pronged plantation drive in 2026-27 to expand the region’s green cover.“Tree plantation and restoration of ponds have become a new hallmark of the Gandhinagar constituency. Over the past three years, 1.5 crore trees have been planted in the region. As a result of these sustained efforts, a decline of 2-3 degrees has been recorded in the average temperature of the Lok Sabha constituency,” he tweeted.“In this direction, today, a review meeting was held on the ongoing tree plantation work under the ‘Green Lok Sabha — Gandhinagar Lok Sabha’ resolution…. A detailed discussion was also held on the interlinking of lakes in Gandhinagar Lok Sabha area,” Shah said.A govt release stated, “The Union home minister expressed his intention to provide an eco-friendly environment to the workers and industrialists by increasing the green cover through intensive planting of saplings in the GIDC (industrial) areas of his parliamentary constituency. Not only this, he suggested planting saplings in the smallest open spaces including the medians of the roads.” A target of planting 1.03 crore saplings this year against 62.85 lakh planted last year — an increase of 64% — has been set, the release said.The forest department will plant a total of 6,000 saplings at 18 entry points of Gandhinagar district and seven entry points of Ahmedabad district. Various methods like Miyawaki model, dense plantation, linear plantation, boundary plantation and scattered plantation will be adopted at various places.During his Gujarat visit, Shah held several meetings, including one with the newly elected Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation councillors from Ghatlodia, Vejalpur, Naranpura and Sabarmati assembly segments that fall under the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency. He congratulated the councillors on their victory and had a detailed discussion regarding organisational matters, public service and regional development, the senior BJP leader said in a post on X.“I am confident that all the councillors elected by the public will live up to the expectations of the public and work with dedication, dialogue, and service spirit, playing active role in the development of the area,” he wrote.He also reviewed the functioning of public hospitals in the constituency and modernisation of the Sarkhej-Gandhinagar Highway. He reviewed the progress of development works of the Gujarat Urban Development Company (GUDC) and Mansa Municipality within his constituency.Shah also attended a meeting of Akhand Anand and Sastu Sahitya Mudranalay Trust regarding the publication, printing and distribution of the Gita, Ramayana and the monthly magazine ‘Akhand Anand’. “The contribution of the trust in the propagation of Indian culture, values and spirituality is very inspiring,” the Union minister said in a post on X. (With PTI inputs)
