ENVIRONMENT Gandhinagar, barren land into a green oasis

ENVIRONMENT
Green, it’s his favourite colour

Dilip Patel
Not very long ago, Gandhinagar was a barren expanse only visited by hot dusty winds. Difficult to believe that in just 18 years’ time, we first associate greenery — more than politics and governance — with our state capital.
All thanks to the tireless efforts of former chief conservator G A Patel. Without batting an eyelid, he accepted the then chief minister Chimanbhai Patel’s challenge of making Gandhinagar a green city. The project began in 1989. And in two years, he planted 36 lakh trees in 58 sq km area of the city. Even when Ahmedabad simmers in the scorching heat, Gandhinagar stays warm and pleasant. G A Patel earned accolades for executing this mammoth task. After all spreading a green carpet on what was a wasteland in just two years, only happens in cartoon movies. Patel was hailed as a green crusader after carrying out this Herculean task.
With 32 lakh trees — made up with 35 species including neem, gulmohar, banyan, pipal, mahua and rhine — for a population of 1.5 lakh, Gandhinagar has an enviable 22 trees per person and 425 trees per hectare. That is not the only feather in Patel’s cap.
The 52-acre land where Chetna Kendra stands today was earlier with the Public Works Department. Patel fought with the PWD which later handed it over to the forest department. Similarly, the 150-acre land where Indroda Natural Park has come up could have been a garment park, had it note been for Patel’s intervention.
But things weren’t as easy as writing the paragraph you just read. He faced several obstacles in his career and was pitted against some of the most powerful policy makers. He even stopped setting up of industries in the area in Jamnagar where Marine National Park today stands. “Professional hazards, what to do,” says Patel adding, “It pains me to see people treating nature and wildlife with disrespect. We should learn to live and let live.”