Ahmedabad: As old residential societies undergo redevelopment, what about the trees that have stood in their compounds for decades, or even longer? The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) calls for their transplantation elsewhere but the machinery it acquired for the job in 2016 has not helped much. The massive truck-mounted transplanter bought from the state forest department has its limitations. It can’t be used on trees with trunks thicker than 90cm in diameter and definitely not for trees in areas with underground utilities, an AMC official said, requesting anonymity. Also, the transplanter has managed to replant less than 200 trees since 2016, despite an annual operational cost exceeding Rs 30 lakh.Looking at this, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s parks and gardens department has been left with no option but to allow manual transplantation, a challenging method with a lower rate of tree survival.The allowance defeats AMC’s own drive to save trees, say sources. Manual replanting requires trimming the trees, digging around their roots, filling this pit with water to loosen the roots, and then using a crane to relocate them with the roots intact. Although there have been some successful transplants, the sources add that most trees end up dead than alive.In 2016, an operations and maintenance contract was issued for the machine, requiring work for 200 days a year in eight-hour shifts, with annual payments between Rs 30 lakh and Rs 35 lakh. As the contract term ended, a new tender was issued, approving a Rs 3.50 crore proposal for five years, with a provision for a two-year extension if satisfactory. At a Jan 2024 standing committee meeting, the proposal was deferred due to lack of information about how many trees were replanted using it. The proposal was later approved. In 2024, approximately 242 large trees were cut for the airport road development, and none was re-planted. Similarly, 60 trees were cut for work on the service road of the Vadaj junction flyover on Ashram Road. Again, none was re-planted.
