Despite multiple directions from the National Green Tribunal (NGT) since 2018, the National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) has yet to map, ground-truth and demarcate Natural Conservation Zones (NCZs) in the draft Regional Plan 2041, scheduled to be considered for approval at the Board’s next meeting on June 16.
The NCRPB has overlooked repeated reminders from the Environment Ministry and the Delhi government to include comparative data on land-use changes between the regional plans (RPs) of 2021 and 2041.
Ground-truthing is the process of verifying whether land use and land cover indicated by satellite imagery accurately reflect actual conditions on the ground. In a series of orders between 2018 and 2022, aimed at protecting NCZs and preventing shrinkage, the NGT sought comparative mapping at a scale of 1:50,000 to verify changes between 1999 and 2019 — and for a finer assessment of present land use at 1:10,000 scale or closer using satellite imagery from 2021-22 or later. The separate exercises were required because higher-resolution imagery from 1999 — the base year for RP-2021 — was not available with the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC). “The classification scheme of the mapping should be selected in a manner that Natural Conservation Areas are explicitly mapped. Due emphasis should be placed on ground truthing,” the Tribunal ordered in September 2020.
Six years on, the revised draft RP-2041 relied on ISRO’s Bhuvan geoportal for “the existing broad land use analysis” based on satellite imagery from 2015-16. There are still no details on NCZs in terms of area, coordinates or encroachments, nor any mention of commissioning mapping work using more recent, finer-resolution imagery.
In April 2022, the NGT reiterated that violations, including “shrinkage of the Aravallis” and other NCZs, noticed on lower-resolution images were not to be ignored. “Once violations have been identified, then with the use of high-resolution maps… violators can be identified and action initiated as per law,” the order said.
Yet, the revised draft RP-2041, which is up for approval this week, offers only broad guidelines and a low-resolution “tentative map” of NCZ areas, saying the “extent of natural features under NCZ will be identified, ascertained and delineated by the NCR participating States in accordance with above definition using ground truthing and revenue records, etc”.
This echoes the NCRPB’s September 2019 position that Regional Plan “may have schematic maps presenting the broad policies….and detailing of the maps at the scale of 1:10,000 and below along with ground truthing and detailed planning may be left to the states”.
In 2012, the NCRPB asked the four NCR states — Delhi, Haryana, UP and Rajasthan — to explain the loss of an estimated 1,014 sq km of NCZ areas. Seven years later, the NGT observed in November 2019: “The plea of the concerned States is that ground truthing has yet to be done. Such exercise cannot be unending.”
ExplainedPolicy impact
The decade-long pendency of field verification and demarcation of Natural Conservation Zones affects planning and policy-making. The absence of clearly marked boundaries also makes it difficult to identify violations of land use and enforce accountability.
When contacted, NCRPB member secretary Gulzar Natarajan said: “We had meetings with the Environment Ministry. I am not aware of anything pending as of now.” He did not respond to a query on whether the NCRPB could identify NCZ violations if boundaries were delineated by states without a central mapping exercise by an expert agency, such as the NRSC.
In July 2022, the Delhi government pointed out to the NCRPB that a “clear comparison of change of land use in the last two decades has not been provided” in the draft RP-2041. “In comparison, the earlier Regional Plan 2021 had provided a clear change in land use map from the 1980s to 1999 using satellite analysis,” it wrote, adding that the omission also violated NGT orders. The same month, the Environment Ministry reminded the NCRPB of various NGT orders requiring mapping for different time periods to ensure conservation of NCZs. “The request made by this Ministry in previous communications to NCRPB for compliance with the said orders may also be kept in view,” the ministry wrote.
In response to both, the NCRPB noted “the matter has been discussed at senior levels of the Government of India and further action is proposed accordingly in the draft final revised Regional Plan 2041”.
However, the draft final revised RP-2041 still lacks comparable data to identify land-use changes between 1999 and 2019. “Since RP-2021 was released, the NCR area has increased by more than 60% from 34,144 sq km to 55,144 sq km. So unless specific area-for-area data is provided, it is not possible to assess land-use changes from state-level data,” said a former Environment Ministry official.
Records show the NRSC had submitted a proposal in September 2020 to complete the mapping work in 12 months for “an estimated cost of Rs 1.86 crore”. The NCRPB refused to provide budgetary support in December 2020. In April 2021, the NGT reiterated its order.
A senior Environment Ministry official said: “We conveyed our views but didn’t think it appropriate to push beyond a point. After all, NCRPB is a statutory body under the Urban Affairs Ministry, and ultimately it’s between them and the NRSC.”
A senior NRSC official declined to comment.
Ground-truthing is the process of verifying whether land use and land cover indicated by satellite imagery accurately reflect actual conditions on the ground. 
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