After 30 years of delay, Forest dept finally sets a timeline to protect Delhi’s green lungs. Here are the details
Over 3,200 hectares in 12 villages of South Delhi fall under Delhi's Southern Ridge and form an extension of the Aravalli Range, but it remained unprotected on paper.
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The NGT had directed the Delhi government in January 2021 to notify undisputed forest lands within three months. (File Photo)The Delhi Forest Department has requested six months from the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to complete a ground verification exercise across 3,287.076 hectares in 12 villages of South Delhi, before declaring it as a Reserved Forest under Section 20 of the Indian Forest Act, 1927. The region that comes under Delhi’s Southern Ridge forms an extension of the Aravalli Range, but it remained unprotected on paper.
In an affidavit dated July 23, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) Shyam Sundar Kandpal emphasized that verification is needed to confirm the land is free from encumbrances and under the department’s clear possession.
“It was deemed necessary … to reconfirm that areas proposed for notification are free from encumbrances and under the clear possession of the Department of Forests & Wildlife, GNCTD, before the issue of final notification,” it read.
The last demarcation was carried out in 2019, and given the nearly six‑year lapse, the department stated that verification would “minimise potential discrepancies or errors in demarcation and need for identification/verification of encroachment.”
Once notified under Section 20, all prior claims over the land will cease to exist. The Supreme Court in 1996 held that: “Once a notification under Section 20 of the Act … is published, then all the rights in the said land claimed by any person come to an end and are no longer available.”
As per official records, Delhi’s Ridge, including the Southern Ridge, was originally notified under Section 4 in 1994, covering around 7,777 hectares.
But the crucial Section 20 final notification was issued only for 103.48 hectares so far, leaving most of the Ridge unprotected on paper.
The NGT had directed the Delhi government in January 2021 to notify undisputed forest lands within three months. However, as it remained delayed, in April this year, the NGT pointed out that “more than four years have passed” without action.
In cognisance, the department submitted a revised Phase‑I draft notification covering 3,287 hectares of forest land in 12 villages to the Delhi government.
According to the submission, a high-level meeting was held on July 16, where the district-level officials expressed concern “over shortage of manpower available in the districts/sub-divisions, the ground verification exercise of such a large area cannot be achieved simultaneously and can only be undertaken in a phased manner”.
The joint verification is underway, led by District Magistrates, across the 12 villages in South Delhi, as per the affidavit.
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