The Illusion of Green: A City of Pots, Not Plants

Deva Darshana Deuri

Guwahati is urbanising rapidly, and with every new building, the city loses a little more of its natural green cover, but where concrete rises faster than trees, a new form of “green living” has quietly taken root.

In neighbourhoods such as Beltola, Zoo Road, Hatigarh, Bhetapara, and Ulubari, it is now common to see balconies filled with potted palms, rooftops turned into small gardens, and corridors lined with decorative plants. These bright patches of greenery are not just a trend, they are a response to the city that has steadily lost the space and soil required to grow real, full-grown trees.

Guwahati, once known for its hills, wetlands, and thick vegetation, has undergone an intense phase of expansion. Road-widening, new commercial plazas, apartment blocks, and continuous construction have reduced the city’s trees. Areas that were once naturally shaded, now stand exposed under harsh sunlight and high temperature. The summers feel hotter, rainfall patterns are unpredictable, and the cityscape has progressively become greyer. As the city becomes warmer and greyer, residents are bringing home potted plants to recreate the greenery that the environment no longer has to offer.

This trend reflects both creativity and concern. On one hand, people are finding innovative ways to keep nature close through small terrace gardens, vertical planters, or indoor oxygen plants. On the other hand, it highlights a larger environmental gap: pots are replacing actual trees. A potted plant cannot provide the benefits of cooler surroundings, fresh air, habitat for birds, or biodiversity like a full-grown tree.

In Guwahati’s high-rise apartments, especially around locations like Zoo road, Ganeshguri, Ulubari and Panjabari, residents often have no soil patches to plant even a single sapling. Their only option is to decorate their homes with pots. In older neighbourhoods like Chandmari or Uzan Bazar, where traditional Assamese homes once stood amid large compounds, are also losing greenery as space shrinks and families turn to potted plants instead.

While this urban adaptation is commendable, it also raises questions about the city’s development priorities. Guwahati’s green cover has declined significantly due to unplanned development, hill cutting, encroachment, and diminishing wetlands. As more trees disappear, residents feel the change sharply. The growing “pot culture” is, in a way, a quiet reminder that people still long for green surroundings, even if it means growing them in small containers.

This trend also offers hope as it reflects the growing environmental consciousness among citizens, especially the younger generation. Many households are experimenting with native species like neem, curry leaves, tulsi, and areca palms, ensuring that their potted choices are not just decorative but functional.

However, private efforts alone cannot restore Guwahati’s environment. The city needs stronger public action, tree-lined streets, stricter rules for builders, protection of hills and wetlands, and large-scale plantation drives. Potted plants may make homes beautiful, but they cannot cool an entire city or support an ecosystem.

Guwahati is clearly longing for green. The spread of plant pots in balconies and rooftops shows this desire, but it is also a reminder of how much real greenery the city has lost. To move beyond this illusion of green, Guwahati must reclaim space for actual trees, not just containers. Only then can the city revive the natural identity that once defined it.

Deva Darshana Deuri, Department of Communication and Journalism, Gauhati University

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