Deforestation is an important issue and we totally agree. But there is too much talk on how to curb it but very less action. However, the Chandigarh Administration has taken the matter very seriously and has been aggressive with its ‘plantation drive’. According to a report by Forest Survey of India, Chandigarh has more trees today than it had way back in 2015.
Our city became one of the only ones to beat the odds and sustain a tree cover of over 10 square kilometers. Chandigarh’s tree cover accounts for 8.77% of the total geographical area which was 7.80% recorded by the same team in its last report.
So how many trees does Chandigarh have in total?
Chandigarh Municipal Corporation had conducted a manual survey in early 2017 that concluded with 1,65,597 trees in the city. However, the Administration has planted 2.5 Lakh trees in the last one year and plans to plant around 3 Lakh saplings as per the Chandigarh Greening Task Group. Do note that this plantation drive will bear tremendous results down the line if not immediately.
Although the tree cover in Chandigarh has increased marginally, there has been a trivial fall in the forest cover of the city. The forest area recorded in 2015 was 21.66 kilometres in comparison to this year’s 21.56 square kilometers. Of the total 21.56, the very dense forest area of Chandigarh remained unchanged from 1.36 square kilometres but the moderately dense forest cover fell from 13.92 to 13.82 square kilometers.
Chandigarh stood second when compared to other union territories like Daman and Diu, Delhi, Goa and Andaman and Nicobar islands. Topping the list was Daman and Diu with a tree cover of 9.01% of the total geographical region while Goa ranked third with 8.76%. It should be noted that unlike Chandigarh, both these union territories saw a fall in tree cover as compared to the 2015 survey.
BBC believes Chandigarh is one of the best cities in the world
BBC believes that Chandigarh has done a remarkable job when it comes to Architecture and balancing tradition and modernity. We have to agree that the city is peaceful and has done exceptionally well in education, infrastructure, and the way of life. This comes as great news for a city like Chandigarh which was struggling with pollution during the festive season last year.
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