Attempt to do away with construction restrictions in morphological ridge: SC panel raises apprehension

The Committee made the remarks in a report submitted to SC.

Delhi Development Authority (DDA), which is the land-owning agency, said in an affidavit to the SC that the restrictions on use of morphological ridge land are without “legal sanction”. The CEC countered this and a committee appointed on the orders of the Supreme Court is now in the process of identifying the area of the morphological ridge.

The matter came up before the CEC and the Supreme Court when the DDA allotted land on the morphological ridge in Vasant Kunj to the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) to construct an office building.

In a February 8 order, the SC noted that previous orders passed by courts had said that land with similar features as the Ridge should be given the same protection. The SC had then directed that a committee be constituted to identify such areas.

It had also directed that the DDA should not allot any land in the areas which are under this consideration till further orders.

The CEC’s report says that the area occupied by the geomorphological landform in a fresh map layer has come down to 1,1050.92 hectares from 1,1136.23 hectares mapped in 2013, which includes the notified forest of the ridge and the morphological ridge. The CEC in its report recommended that the SC direct the committee appointed by it to follow the boundaries shown in the 2013 map.

The CEC report also said that in an affidavit before SC in February, DDA said that the morphological ridge has not been defined under any statute, notification, or policy for it to attain legal sanctity. “Even though the map of Geomorphological Ridge has been available since 2013, DDA has now taken the stand before this Hon’ble Court that the Ridge outside the Notified Ridge Area has not been identified / demarcated,” the CEC report said.

The report also noted that the Master Plan of Delhi 2021 does not recognise any part of the ridge outside of the notified forest area.

The report added that DDA had allotted plots for development to various agencies in the morphological ridge.

After the CEC submitted its report dated March 13, the SC considered the matter earlier this month. In an order issued on March 15, it said the committee has made “substantial progress” and has identified the parameters to be considered to identify land as morphological ridge. Another committee of technical experts will be appointed and the matter is to be considered by the court in four months to monitor progress.