Approximately 41 sq km of the Southern Ridge in Delhi will be declared a reserve forest, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has announced. The decision is a major step towards protecting the national capital from pollution and strengthening the environment in a sustainable manner, the Chief Minister said on Monday (October 13). A reserve forest is given the highest level of protection under the Indian Forest Act, 1927, in which hunting, grazing, and logging are prohibited except when expressly permitted. Reserve forests are designated by state governments and are key to conserving and preserving habitats and wildlife. Gupta said that the Delhi government would plant indigenous varieties of trees, including fruit-bearing trees, such as neem, peepal, shisham, mango, tamarind, and jamun on open land within this area in order to increase the density of the forest, maintain the health of the soil, improve the environment, maintain the ecological balance, and strengthen biodiversity. “Our government’s priority is to make Delhi a modern capital that is pollution-free, green, and environmentally balanced,” she said. The Delhi Ridge, the northern extension of the ancient Aravalli range, is administratively divided into four zones – the Old Delhi or Northern Ridge near Delhi University; the New Delhi or Central Ridge, between Sadar Bazar and Dhaula Kuan; the Mehrauli or South-Central Ridge around JNU and Vasant Kunj; and the Tughlaqabad or Southern Ridge. The Southern Ridge area sprawls over roughly 6,200 hectares (62 sq km), and is the least urbanised of the four segments of the Delhi Ridge. It includes the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary and the forests of Bandhwari in Gurgaon and Mangar Bani on the Delhi-Haryana border. The ridge areas of the capital had been neglected for almost 20 years, the Chief Minister said. “Previous governments neither took any initiative nor any steps to protect these zones. As a result, several parts of the ridge suffered encroachments, and the greenery began to decline,” she said. Her government has been committed to safeguarding and enhancing Delhi’s environment and greenery from the beginning, Gupta said. Several meetings have been held to coordinate action among various departments, leading to this important decision, she said. Declaring a part of the Southern Ridge area as a reserve forest marks the first phase of the initiative to protect the area. Work is underway to declare other ridge areas in Delhi as reserve forests as well, the Chief Minister said. She said the Delhi government believes that environmental protection is not an optional policy but an essential responsibility. Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said that the government has made pollution control and environmental protection one of its top priorities. “Declaring 41 square kilometres of the Southern Ridge as a reserved forest is part of this policy. This decision will prove decisive in controlling air pollution and expanding greenery in the capital. …The government is conducting tree plantation drives based on scientific principles, planting native species suited to local conditions. This will not only help reduce pollution but also improve the groundwater level and the natural ecosystem. The Delhi government aims to provide every citizen with a clean, green, and healthy environment,” Sirsa said.
