Gandhinagar, July 11 -- Until a few days ago, few motorists passing the 23-hectare gauchar (common grazing) land along the roadside at Kanotar village, about 30 km from Bavla in Ahmedabad district, would have found any reason to stop. Overrun by the invasive Prosopis juliflora (Gando Baval), the highly saline and degraded land offered little more than a bleak landscape. Today, however, the site presents a striking contrast, a release said.

As part of Union Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah's ambitious Gandhinagar Hariyali Lok Sabha campaign, the Gujarat Forest Department has begun transforming the barren tract into a thriving native habitat by clearing invasive Prosopis juliflora and replacing it with indigenous plant species.

To impro...