Delhi’s open spaces are rapidly vanishing.  This is true of other urban centres as well.  The contractors’ lobby and burgeoning population have ensured that green spaces are replaced by concrete jungles and urban sprawls, making life in the cities a nightmare.  The story of the Delhi Ridge that we relate is different only in detail with what is happening to the lungs of other urban centres. 

The involved question of the management of the Delhi Ridge is now being examined in depth by the Ridge Committee which comprises representatives from concerned government agencies like the Delhi Development Authority, Delhi Administration, Ministry of Environment & Forests as well as NGOs.

The issue is made all the more complex because of the multiplicity of agencies presently in charge of various portions of the Ridge and their differing ethos.  This has resulted in government agencies as well as private institutions being allotted land on the Ridge, either on a permanent or on a temporary basis which has by default become permanent; besides a host of unauthorised structures have also erupted.  Often it is felt that these encroachments cannot be removed either because they enjoy political patronage, or because the Ridge is viewed as vacant land.  For example, during the 1984 riots the CRPF was given “temporary” sanction for a base on the South-Central Ridge; it is still there.  The DDA on the other hand has been changing the natural topography of large parts of the scrub forest to create parks.

The Ridge, as it presently exists, and the portions of it which are still green, have supposedly secured some sort of protection under the Indian Forest Act.  However, the areas so protected are defined by landmarks which no longer exist, and can only approximately substitute for present day boundaries.  Also the term “forest use” which guides the provisions of the Forest Act, has debatedly been extended to include the creation of parks as a legitimate forest use.

The job now is not only to see through the whole confusion, but also suggest a workable administrative structure which has the necessary powers and freedom to be able to carry out its function against various pressures, political, religious and those created by a sharp increase in the population.

The view of the NGOs is that the committee take a fresh detached view of the situation.  The primary requirement seems to be create an agency which is autonomous with its sole function being to manage the Ridge.  Also checks and balances should be present within its structure in the form of a panel comprising NGOs, and members of various government agencies as part of the new body.

Historically, the Delhi Ridge and its forest was the raison-de-etre for the city’s location, many hundred years ago.  Along with the Yamuna, the Ridge cradled the city in an otherwise vast, unbroken and hostile plain, providing it shade and drinking water and also protecting it from the hot, dusty loos of Rajasthan.  Realising this, it was protected and reforested time and again, including by Tuglaq as well as they British.  Today, when its need is far greater than it was ever before, it exists only as a battered and broken spur, with less than a couple of thousand hectares of unlandscaped natural green left, surviving despite all odds.

The Ridge forest is still rich in biodiversity.  In fact, in earlier days it has many endemic and exotic shrubs and trees, and mammals such as foxes, hares, jackals, and even leopards.  Even today, it is home to 200 species of birds, almost one sixth of the sub-continent’s total, many small mammals, jackals, foxes and the nilgai.  Lush green during the monsoon, splashed with colour of Palash and Amaltash during winter, and a haven for migratory birds it also offers a unique backyard classroom for the serious researcher. 

The two dangers facing the Ridge forest today are encroachments and plans to covert it into a park.  Though legally declared a Reserved Forest, almost 50 years ago, today more than 40 percent of its has been destroyed.  The major and worst offenders are ironically not common citizens, but government agencies like the CRPF, Defence, and even schools, many of which bear prestigious names.  All have encroached upon the Ridge.  Religious institutions top the list.  A religious deity placed quietly, is soon enclosed by a temporary structure and given concrete permanence at an opportune moment, hallowing it a with social immunity no administration dare defy.

Without realising the interwoven working of a forest, and under the guise of preserving the green cover, large portions of the Ridge forest have been converted into landscaped gardens.  While the master plan of Delhi - 2001 accepts the need for neighbouring parks, it states that a “park of at least 1.5 ha for 15,000 population be planned with flowering trees and shrub...”  It also emphasises that the “Ridge should be afforested with indigenous species with a minimum of artificial landscaping.”  However, it points out that of the 9,101 ha of recreational land earmarked in the master plan, 1,962ha. or “34 percent has been lost to other uses.”  Budha Jayanti Park, Mahavir Park, and the unused Rabindra Rangshalla are cases in point.  In fact, the Northern Ridge near the university has almost completely been converted into a park.

This step has been taken despite the fact that it is probably much easier to maintain the Ridge as a forest than as a park.  If say 800 malis are needed to beautify the area, only 80 forest guards may suffice to patrol it.  The modus operandi followed for the conversion is uniform.  The area is cleared of all undergrowth, exotic species like the bougainvillaea, and grasses are planted, trees are chopped and concrete pathways constructed.  For example, in the Jahanpanah city forest, a cycle track was constructed by cutting down a large number of trees, despite strong opposition from NGOs and citizens.

What follows is expected.  Most of the species of birds, insects and plants which are endemic to the area disappear since they depend on the undergrowth either for nesting, or for feeding and for a sense of security.  Temperatures rise, the dust trapping function becomes porous, and the area looses its capacity to perform its protective function.  We have measured almost a 2 to 4 degree Celsius temperature difference between Buddha Jayanti Park and the adjoining natural forest core.

The Ridge forest has an irreplaceable character and an unique role to play in Delhi’s future and must be preserved.  It needs to be protected not only by legislation but by an agency which has teeth, and what is more important, an inclination to implement the laws.  Identification of such an agency, the extension of the Environmental (Protection) Act - 1986 to the Ridge and effective implementation of the Indian Forest Act - 1927 are measures that need to be taken rightaway.  Next, a legal body comprising citizens and officials needs to be formed to perform a constant watchdog function.

The Ridge is prime uninhabited property.  Any administrative agency can only be successful if the citizens are also sought to be involved in its protection.  In the long run, the success of present day efforts will depend on the various NGOs ability to create an awareness amongst the residents of Delhi about its greens, as also to involve them directly in their maintenance and upkeep.  Till then, all of us have to work together towards this objective. q

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