AMC blocks society's attempts to go green

Residentsof ICB Island Society on New SG Road sought AMC's approval to plant saplings inthe area devoid of greenery. But corporation cancelled it citing laying ofpipelines

At a time when Ahmedabad is struggling to preserve its green patches, an initiative by a group of people to make their society green gets a cold response from Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC).

A year ago, the residents of ICB Island Society on New SG Road had sent an application to the AMC, seeking approval for planting 100 saplings in and around their society.

However, though the corporation initially supported the initiative, it backed off later.

The area surrounding the society, constructed four years ago, is devoid of greenery. Still, there has been no initiative by the AMC to create green spaces, the residents complain.

“When I first approached the authorities, they agreed to help. A team also surveyed the area. They were supposed to provide us 100 saplings.

But when we approached the AMC to seek approval for tree guards, the councillor cancelled the plan,” said Seema Kumar, a member of the group.

According to the group members, AMC went back on the plan, citing laying of pipelines for Narmada water. Kumar said, “We had made the request a year ago. They had told us then that they would start laying water pipelines. But the work started only a week ago. Besides, AMC has a layout of its water pipeline plan. Had they shared it with us, we could have chalked out different spots for the green initiative in such a way that it would not have damaged the plants.” Kumar then filed a Right to Information (RTI) application, seeking information about AMC’s plan to plant trees in and around their society. They also asked for guidelines under AMC which can prevent citizens from undertaking tree plantation voluntarily.

The reply confirmed that citizens could take such initiatives.

Moreover, the RTI reply revealed that AMC did not have any information about the total amount of money spent on tree plantation in and around their society as well as neighbouring societies. However, this response came only after Kumar complained to AMC Commissioner D Thara who asked the concerned official to respond to her RTI.

Following the response, Kumar again sent a letter to Thara which has now been forwarded to Jignesh B Patel, director of parks and gardens under AMC.

Talking to Mirror, Patel said that AMC always assists citizens in talking such green in initiatives.

“Due to the underground pipeline project, we could not allow the group to plant trees here. We have plans to cover the area under our plantation programme this monsoon,” said Patel. He also said that due to the undergoing work, AMC couldn’t do much plantation in the area so there is no information available about the amount of money spent. Councillor Bipin Patel did not respond to Mirror’s phone calls.