Ahmedabad to use tree transplanter machine to maintain the city's green cover

With the acquisition of a tree transplanter machine, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) will have the option of transplanting grown trees in the city instead of cutting them down. According to The Times Of India, the tree transplanter machine, which was acquired by the forest department, had been lying unused at its office in Gandhinagar for want of a driver.

The machine, which was bought and imported by GSPC from the US, was handed over to the forest department on July 13, 2010. According to the forest department officials, in four years that the machine has been operational, 1,799 trees of 47 species, with a maximum circumference of 90 cm, had been transplanted using the imported hydraulic machine. Over 85% of the transplantations have been successful and the trees have stayed alive.

For the last year, the machine was lying unused, as there was no driver available. The AMC garden department proposed to the forest department that they were willing to take possession of the machine and and would hire a driver for it. The AMC said they have several drivers on the rolls who are trained to use heavy trucks.

The forest department officials said that AMC has also agreed to send the machine to Gandhinagar whenever required. The officials said that once the machine was acquired, fully grown trees with girths between 50 cm and 100 cm could be transplanted. On an average, AMC and the forest department grant permission to cut around 2,000 trees every year to make way for development projects. As the Ahmedabad metro project begins work, about 2,000 trees will need to be removed and the machine will be of much use to AMC in transplanting them.

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