Pan-city development requires the application of smart solutions to the existing city-wide infrastructure. This however comes at an impending cost. To further establish and improve the infrastructure under the smart-city initiative total of 92 trees in Indore, and 8,750 tress in Bhopal were cut down between 2020 to 2022.

At least eight full grown trees were cut daily in Bhopal in the past three years to make the city "smart".

Against the felling of 8,750 full-grown tress, Bhopal administration, as compensation, has been spending large funds on saplings and their upkeep. In the past three years, around 83,000 saplings have been planted in Bhopal at an expenditure of almost ₹1.5 crore for conservation of the same.

It is a given that the number of trees cut in Indore for its smart city and other projects is far less than Bhopal, however no such plantation initiative has been undertaken by the authorities yet.