Amit Shah Hails Gandhinagar's Guinness Record for 3.61 Lakh Saplings
Synopsis
Gandhinagar set a Guinness World Record on 12 July 2026 by planting 3.61 lakh saplings in one hour under the 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' campaign. Union Home Minister Amit Shah praised the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and 25,000 volunteers, calling it a milestone for PM Modi's 'Progress with Nature' vision.
Key Takeaways
Gandhinagar set a Guinness World Record by planting 3.61 lakh saplings in one hour on 12 July 2026 .
The drive was organised under PM Narendra Modi 's Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam campaign, launched on World Environment Day 2024.
25,000 volunteers participated, coordinated by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation .
Union Home Minister Amit Shah described the feat as a milestone towards Modi's vision of 'Progress with Nature.' The event aligns with India's tree-cover expansion commitments under the Paris Agreement .
Sapling survival rates and year-end campaign tallies will be closely watched by environmental observers.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday, 12 July 2026 congratulated Gandhinagar after the Gujarat capital set a Guinness World Record by planting 3.61 lakh saplings in just one hour, calling it a monumental milestone towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of 'Progress with Nature.'
Context
Shah posted on X applauding the feat, writing: 'Today, Gandhinagar set a Guinness World Record by planting 3.61 lakh saplings in just one hour. A monumental milestone towards realizing Modi Ji's vision of 'Progress with Nature.'' He specifically credited the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and the 25,000 volunteers who participated in the drive. The post carried the hashtag #एक_पेड़_माँ_के_नाम ('Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' — 'One Tree in Mother's Name'), the national afforestation campaign under which the plantation was organised.
Policy Backdrop
The Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam campaign was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on World Environment Day 2024 as a citizen-centric push to expand India's green cover by urging every Indian to plant a sapling in honour of their mother. The initiative sits alongside state-level Van Mahotsav programmes and urban greening efforts under the Smart Cities framework. India's updated Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement include ambitious tree-cover expansion targets, and mass plantation drives of this kind are among the primary instruments deployed to meet them.
Large-scale, time-bound plantation events have become a recurring feature of India's environmental calendar, with state governments and municipal bodies competing to set and break records as a way of generating civic participation and political visibility for green causes.
Stakeholders and Impact
The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation coordinated the logistics of mobilising 25,000 volunteers across Gandhinagar within a single hour — a feat of civic organisation as much as an environmental one. Urban residents of Gujarat stand to benefit from improved air quality, reduced urban heat island effect, and enhanced green public spaces if the planted saplings are maintained and survive to maturity.
The event also underscores the role of municipal bodies as frontline executors of centrally driven environmental policy, a pattern seen increasingly across Indian cities as national campaigns are localised through civic administration.
What's Next
Attention will now turn to follow-up monitoring of the saplings planted in Gandhinagar, as survival rates after mass plantation drives have historically been a subject of scrutiny by environmental observers. State-level tallies of total saplings planted under the Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam campaign by year-end are expected to be released, and other cities may attempt similar Guinness record bids to showcase their own green credentials. The Gandhinagar milestone is likely to add momentum to the campaign ahead of the next World Environment Day.
Point of View
The party connects a global climate commitment to an emotionally resonant domestic narrative. Shah's congratulatory post amplifies the achievement at the national level, signalling that such drives are no longer purely local initiatives but building blocks of a broader political brand around green governance. The real test, as always, will be whether the saplings are maintained — a challenge that has dogged India's mass plantation record attempts in the past.
NationPress
12 Jul 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What Guinness World Record did Gandhinagar set in 2026?
Gandhinagar set a Guinness World Record on 12 July 2026 by planting 3.61 lakh (361,000) saplings in just one hour, a drive coordinated by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation with 25,000 volunteers.
What is the Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam campaign?
'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' — meaning 'One Tree in Mother's Name' — is a national afforestation campaign launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on World Environment Day 2024, urging every Indian citizen to plant a sapling dedicated to their mother.
Who organised the Gandhinagar sapling plantation record?
The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation organised the drive, mobilising 25,000 volunteers across Gandhinagar to achieve the Guinness World Record within a single hour.
What did Amit Shah say about the Gandhinagar Guinness record?
Union Home Minister Amit Shah congratulated Gandhinagar on X, calling the plantation of 3.61 lakh saplings in one hour 'a monumental milestone' towards PM Modi's vision of 'Progress with Nature,' and applauded the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and the 25,000 volunteers involved.
How does the Gandhinagar record relate to India's climate commitments?
The drive supports India's updated Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement, which include tree-cover expansion targets. Mass plantation events like this one are among the key instruments India uses to work towards those goals.
