Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah, who is also the Member of Parliament from Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency, congratulated the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, over 25,000 volunteers, and the people of Gandhinagar for achieving a Guinness World Record by planting over 3.61 lakh (361,000) saplings in just one hour using the Miyawaki afforestation method.
The achievement represents a significant milestone in environmental conservation through public participation, with the entire Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency planting more than 1.26 crore (12.6 million) saplings under the Public Plantation Campaign. The plantation drive included 1,15,93,513 saplings planted at 404 public sites and over 11 lakh (1.1 million) saplings planted by citizens in private premises.
The constituency-wise breakdown shows 53,64,504 saplings were planted at 186 locations in Sanand Assembly constituency, 18,09,850 saplings at 97 locations in Gandhinagar North Assembly constituency, 16,64,675 saplings at 77 locations in Kalol Assembly constituency, 8,32,370 saplings at 18 locations in Ghatlodia Assembly constituency, 17,54,000 saplings at 10 locations in Vejalpur Assembly constituency, and 82,314 saplings at 6 locations in Sabarmati Assembly constituency.
Shah emphasized that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, environmental conservation has become a people's movement through the 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' campaign, which has connected crores of citizens across India with nature protection initiatives. He noted that the Gandhinagar constituency has emerged as an inspiration for the nation in environmental protection and green development through the development of oxygen parks, large-scale tree plantation, pond restoration, and various public campaigns. The Home Minister also stressed the importance of not just planting saplings but also protecting and nurturing them, appealing to all citizens to join the campaign and take responsibility for caring for the planted saplings to ensure a clean, green, and ecologically balanced environment for future generations.