Green cover: Ahmedabad biggest loser among mega cities

AHMEDABAD: Among the mega cities in the country, Ahmedabad has been the biggest loser when it comes to forest cover. The city’s forest cover which was 17.86 sq km fell to 9.41 sq km, a 48% fall. Of the seven cities assessed, forest cover increased in mega cities such as Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai and Hyderabad.
The reduction in forest cover was revealed in the Forest Survey of India’s ‘State of Forest Report 2021 (IFSR)’.

The report for the first time brought out a section on major mega cities. It stated that the decadal change in forest cover from ISFR 2011 to ISFR 2021 showed a 68 sq km increase in forest cover in the seven mega cities. The biggest gain was in Hyderabad (48.66 sq km) and Delhi (19.91 sq km) while Ahmedabad and Bengaluru have lost 8.55 sq km and 4.98 sq km, respectively, the report states. This is the first time the IFSR has specifically covered forest cover in the seven mega cities.
Officials in the forest department said that the municipal corporation may have gone in for an urban plantation drive, including the ‘Mission Million Plus Trees’, but this remained on paper. The way the city is expanding and construction activity is on the rise, plantation was not in proportion with urbanisation.
An official, citing the 2016 report of the Gujarat forest department, said that built up area — residential, commercial and industrial areas — was 8,168.31 hectares in 2005 and increased by 1,890.12 hectares from 2005 to 2011, to 10,058.43 hectares. It then increased by 4,085.79 hectares from 2011 to 2016, to 14,144.22 hectares.
The officer said that due to rapid urbanization, the growing demand for houses, shops and technological advancements in construction, built-up area increased at more than double the rate in the 2011 to 2016 period, compared to the 2005 to 2011 period.
At the state level, overall green cover, which includes forest cover and tree cover, increased to 21,870 sq km, or 11.14% of the state’s geographic area. This figure had been stagnant at 21,647 sq km since 2013. In the last two years, the state saw an increase of 223 sq km.
However, according to state forest officials, there is no change in dense forest cover, which is defined as a canopy density of over 70%. There was a decline of 60 sq km in moderate forests, where canopy cover is between 40% and 70%. This moderate forest had turned into open forest, which registered an increase.
Officials said tree cover in the state is around 5% of the state’s geographical area, while forest cover is 7.57%.