Vadodara: For the first time, Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) is using technical help to transplant trees along the Jail Road that is proposes to be widened. The civic body has roped in a truck-mounted tree transplanting machine for the purpose.The widening of the Jail Road as well as the R C Dutt Road in Alkapuri had raised concerns about the fate of trees there. The VMC has now decided to retain as many trees as possible and has sought a tree transplanting machine that is owned by three state public sector units.VMC commissioner Dr Vinod Rao said that at least 100 trees fell in the road line on the Jail Road. "We will be transplanting as many trees as possible. The bigger trees which cannot be transplanted are largely on the footpath. We may have a system where one lane of the road may be after the footpath or a divider where the trees still stand, but the details of this are being worked out," said Rao.At Alkapuri, the VMC is looking to open the road line by acquiring land from the plush bungalows of government officials and even private ones. But it may not actually widen the existing road."We are still at a planning stage, but the space beyond the row of banyan trees there may be used for a cycle track, pedestrian space or such a facility. The vehicular traffic on the road is not very dense and one may not need wider roads there," said Dr Rao.The R C Dutt Road has a string of around 65 banyan trees - India's national tree after which the city is named.Most of these are located on the stretch between the Bank of Baroda and the railway underpass where the road ends.

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