Yes, you read
it right. Gandhinagar is the capital of Gujarat which is the greenest capital
in the whole Asia. You will probably get a snigger from those who have an
impression that Gujarat is a semi-arid region with a perpetual problem of
drought. But Statistics which shows and
would turn other cities green with envy. With about 32 lakh trees for a 1.5
lakh population, Gujarat's capital has about enviable 22 trees per person.
Effectively,
there are 416 trees for every 100 people in the city. This is more than any
other city in the country. The census was conducted by the social forestry
department along with various municipal corporations and urban development
authorities.
As one drives from Ahmedabad towards Gandhinagar, the scenery starts to change.
A cramped, dusty landscape is slowly replaced by wide open spaces and a blur of
green from the canopy of lakhs of trees that envelope Gandhinagar. Your lungs,
which choke in Ahmedabad, can tell the difference in Gandhinagar.
According to
the forest department Gandhinagar has 32 lakh trees, made up with 35 species
including Neem, Gulmohar, Banyan, Pipal, Mahua and Rhine, in its 56 square
kilometers.
According to Forest Survey of India, Bangalore,
Chandigarh and Delhi have a green cover of 18.9%, 14.9% and 11.9%, respectively.
"The
social forestry division was given the task of greening the area. Ever since,
more than 35 lakh trees have been planted and their survival rate has been very
high. Also, in 1991 land reserved for development was used for plantation, making
the city one of the greenest."
Gandhinagar
is located approximately 23 km north of Ahmedabad,
on the west central point of the Industrial corridor between Delhi, the political capital of India, and Mumbai,
the financial capital of India.
Actually,
Gandhinagar is the new Capital City after Ahmedabad, Which lies on the west
bank of the Sabarmati River, about 545 km (338 miles) north of Mumbai,
the financial capital of India and
901 km (560 miles) southwest of Delhi,
the political capital. As the new capital city was planned by Chief Architect
H.K. Mewada, educated at Cornell University, and his assistant Prakash M Apte, who
had apprenticed with Le Corbusier in
Chandigarh.