Ahmedabad: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday planted tree saplings in Ahmedabad and appealed to citizens to make it the city with the largest green cover not just in India, but in the world.
Shah planted three saplings on a plot of land of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) on Sindhu Bhavan road in Bodakdev area, that falls under the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency represented by him, in the presence of officials and representatives of the civic body.
“I appeal to the entire team of the municipal corporation that it should target to make Ahmedabad the city with the largest green cover not just in India, but in the world, and this is possible,” Shah said in his address after the event.
He also appealed to the people of his constituency to plant those varieties of trees that could provide oxygen to three-four generations.
“It is our responsibility to save the earth, humanity, and the environment. Trees will give us oxygen as well as food to birds…there are also medicinal benefits of such trees,” he said.
Shah set the target of planting 11 lakh trees in the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency, and asked citizens to become stakeholders in the drive along with government agencies and departments.
The senior BJP leader congratulated the AMC for taking the initiative of supplying tree saplings to people over a phone call, and said this will help make Ahmedabad the greenest city.
“Upload a tree on the earth, and you will get hundreds of likes from the cloud,” he said, while conveying what he said was a message from a young party worker from Uttar Pradesh who had requested him to do so.
According to civic officials, the tree plantation drive was held to make Gandhinagar a “green constituency.”
The campaign is also being conducted in other parts of the Ahmedabad city falling under the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency, they said.
On the occasion, Shah also launched a helpline number for the people of his constituency for assistance in vaccination against COVID-19 and free ration provided by the central government.