Ahmedabad is making a notable shift in its urban landscape. In a bid to tackle rising temperatures, the city has begun replacing paver blocks at over 100 junctions in the western areas with vegetation.
This decision follows years of installing paver blocks on traffic islands, which have been found to trap and reflect heat during peak summer months. Currently, significant work is underway at key locations like Usmanpura and Paldi junctions along Ashram Road.
An anonymous official from the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) revealed that this initiative arose from a recent review meeting focused on increasing green cover. The plan involves clearing out previous installations of paver blocks and planting small trees or shrubs wherever possible.
However, not everyone is convinced about the planning behind these changes. Several sources have pointed out that many of these paver blocks were just laid one or two years ago, raising eyebrows about the effectiveness of past designs—especially along Ashram Road where an ‘iconic road’ project is actively being developed. It seems strange that landscaping wasn’t part of the original plans.
On a broader scale, AMC has been committed to enhancing tree coverage around the city through initiatives like Mission 4 Million Trees. In 2025 alone, they planted around 40 lakh trees, following up with another 30 lakh in 2024 under Mission 3 Million Trees. Looking ahead to 2026, officials aim for an ambitious target of planting five million more trees.
Despite these efforts—the AMC claims they’ve planted over one crore trees between 2019 and 2025—challenges remain. A recent survey indicated that about 40% of approximately 75.4 lakh trees planted over five years failed to survive, translating into a loss of around 30.2 lakh trees.
Future Planting Plans
The AMC also plans to address gaps in tree planting along major transport corridors like BRTS and metro lines. Currently, it’s noted that only about 30%-40% of tree spaces alongside the BRTS corridor have been filled since its inception in 2019.
A new project aims to plant and maintain up to 9,000 trees along metro routes at a cost exceeding Rs 11 crore after bids came in higher than expected.