Fight for a forest RAVI AGARWAL

From where comes this greenery and flowers? 15% of the city’s land, though much What makes the clouds and the air? of it has been flattened. The decidu- – Mirza Ghalib ous arid scrub forest of the ridge still provides an unique ecosystem, which THE battle for protecting ’s today lies in the heart of the modern green lungs, its prehistoric urban for- city, and is critical for its ecological est, has never been more intense than health. Though citizen’s action has now. The newly global city, located in managed to legally protect1 about a cusp formed by the tail end of the 1.5 7800 ha of the forest scattered in four billion year old, 800 km long Aravalli mountain range as it culminates at the * Ravi Agarwal is member of Srishti and river , is the aspirational capi- founding Director of Toxics Link, both envi- 48 tal of over 15 million people. ronmental NGOs. He has been involved in the ridge campaign since 1992, and was inducted The hilly spur known as the into the Ridge Management Board in 2005. once occupied almost He is an engineer by training.

SEMINAR 613 – September 2010 distinct patches, the fight for the ridge besides protecting the city from desert Dynasty in the 13th and 14th centuries forest has been long and is ongoing. sands blowing in from and marked by the towering Qutab Land is scarce, with competing uses (south of Delhi). Most importantly, for Minar. in the densely populated city, sur- an increasingly water scarce city, the rounded by increasingly urbanized ridge forest and the river Yamuna once peripheral townships of , formed a network of water channels, Even though the Delhi Ridge forest and . though most of them have been lost or has had a long history of protection, it The Aravali range which enters highly fragmented. is now battling against being diverted Delhi through its southwest boundary Once, many small streams and for ‘development’. There are early splits into two spurs, one travelling a nullahs originated from the ridge and records of afforestation by Firoz Shah short distance eastwards towards drained into small and large water- Tughlaq for hunting, and of the Brit- Tughlaqabad, the other forking off bodies, which ultimately emptied into ish planting trees on it.3 Even in 1878, westwards to end 40 kms away in the the river. Today, large water bodies parts of the area were declared as a North. The plateau-like arms had such as the Najafgarh jheel (now an Reserve Forest under the Indian For- bounded the various cities over time, industrial area), or the est Act, 1878. Later between 1913 and and only in post independence , jheel are dry. Many nullahs which 1948 additional areas received protec- were they blasted to extend it in order crisscrossed the city as streams carry- tion on the northern and central ridge. to accommodate thousands of new ing water to the river, have turned In 1980, 20 sites in the northern, south- migrants. This trend has continued into open sewers and are now being ern and central ridge were declared as unabated, and the ridge is now unrec- covered up for making roads. protected under forest laws. More ognizable. recently, in 1986, the Lt. Governor of Massive residential colonies, Delhi declared 1880 ha of forest in the several religious institutions, univer- The fractured and porous quartzite southern ridge as the Asola Wildlife sities and security force camps have rocks helped the ridge serve as a Sanctuary. By 1991, an additional 840 been allotted land on the ridge. The groundwater recharge zone. The scrub ha of the Bhatti mines area were four isolated forest patches which still forest was once rich in animal and brought under the Asola Sanctuary. remain, were once contiguous. Even plant life. There are records of foxes, Though many of the earlier these bounded patches – the Asola porcupines, chinkaras and black-bucks, notifications were never withdrawn, Wildlife Sanctuary (6200 ha, southern though now it is mainly neelgai and their current validity has become un- ridge), (633 ha, south cen- smaller animals like hares that can be certain, especially since many ground tral ridge), the central ridge (864 ha, seen. Bird life still abounds, with birds markers have disappeared. With the behind ) and the of prey like the shikhra or passage formation of the Delhi Development northern ridge (87 ha, Delhi Univer- migrants, along with more than 150 Authority (DDA) in 1957,4 Delhi sity) – are under pressure from other other species. However, much of the undertook the task of urban planning. ‘use’ claims. Other ridge areas have original vegetation has been over- The first master plan (1962) recog- unfortunately not received protection taken by exotic species like ‘vilayati nized the need to conserve and pro- under forest laws, but been left free kikar’, or Prosipis juliflora.2 Also, in tect the ridge as a natural forest, but to be used as per the dictates of the the past, the elevation of the ridge offered no legal protection to it, as for- city master plan, leading to many provided a vantage point over the est laws did. Hence, when major chunks conflicts. northern plains of the Punjab, provid- ing the city both ecological as well as 3. For a detailed discussion on this, see Michael Mann and Samiksha Sehrawat, military security. Many related old ‘A City With a View: The Afforestation of A large forest in the midst of a dense, structures still exist on it, including the the Delhi Ridge, 1883-1913’, Modern Asian highly urbanized and growing city is city built by the sultans of the Slave Studies, 2008, pp. 543-570, Cambridge Uni- an unusual blessing, its ecological versity Press. First published online 25 Sep- tember 2008. functions probably more needed 1. Declared as a Reserve Forest under Section 4. The Delhi Development (Provisional) today than ever before. The ridge for- 4 of the Indian Forest Act, 1924, in 1994. Authority – DDPA – was constituted through est acts like a green lung for the city’s 2. Kalpavriksh, The Delhi Ridge Forest, a Delhi (Control of Building Operations) polluted air, allows a rich biodiver- Decline and Conservation. Delhi, 1991, and Ordinance, 1955 which was replaced by the 49 Pradip Krishen, Trees of Delhi: A Field Guide. Delhi Development Act, 1957, with the pri- sity to exist in it, lowers the ambient Dorling Kindersley and Penguin Books, 2006, mary objective of ensuring the development temperature and acts as a noise buffer, pp. 24-25. of Delhi in accordance with a plan.

SEMINAR 613 – September 2010 of the ridge land were transferred to There were, however, funda- Four members from environmental the Delhi Development Authority in mental differences on how the idea of NGOs (Indian National Trust for Arts 1992, despite earlier forest notifica- ‘green’ was understood. The Delhi and Cultural Heritage – INTACH, tions, it raised a public alarm. Development Authority (DDA) saw it Kalpavriksh, Srishti, World Wide as a ‘regional park’, manicured like Fund for Nature – WWF) were part of the Buddha Jayanti and Mahavir the committee along with officials. The recent fight to protect the ridge Jayanti Parks on the central ridge. It The committee recommended that forest began in the mid eighties by stu- argued that citizens needed jogging four of the areas be notified as reserve dent groups like Kalpavriksh, who tracks, benches, grass ‘clear of snakes’, forests, and that the forest character of tried to stop tree felling, or the build- and that protecting the ridge like a the area be maintained irrespective of ing of transmission towers on it, even ‘wild’ forest would harbour anti- which agency manages the land. 7 prompting intervention by Prime social elements. Many citizens, on the This was an important victory, and on Minister Indira Gandhi.5 But it was other hand, wanted the forest as an 24 May 1994 these areas were duly only in the wake of the 1992 order that ecosystem whose biodiversity could notified as deemed Reserve Forest matters came to a head. For those who only survive when the grasses and under Section 4 of the Indian Forest had grown up walking in the forest or shrubs were left for animals, birds and Act, 1927 (IFA).8 bird watching, this was both a death- insects to feed and nest in. Parks, and knell and a call to action. The moment Delhi already had over 12000, needed converted ordinary citizens into activ- water, manure and labour, while a for- Subsequent to the notification, the ists. Voluntary organizations and citi- est only had to be left alone. The forest mandatory settlement of forest rights zens came together under the banner was not only ecologically superior to began, but was immediately mired in of the Joint NGO Forum to Save the a park, but also symbolized a balance controversy as it was obviously dis- Delhi Ridge with prominent NGOs between nature and development. criminatory. For example, amongst like WWF, Kalpavriksh, Srishti spear- the first to be displaced were the rag heading the action. pickers and shanty dwellers on central It was truly a moment of passion. However, the associated legal and ridge adjacent to a large police camp, School children marched through the land ownership issues surrounding a gurdwara and a well-known chari- streets of Delhi carrying banners they the ridge areas were complex and table hospital, even as the President’s had painted, residents organized colony institutionally intertwined. For exam- Bodyguard’s owned a swanky polo meetings, activists devised new slo- ple, while the DDA and the forest club ground on the ridge forest behind gans, gathered supporters and con- department owned Sanjay Van and Rashtrapati Bhavan itself. Rather than fronted the politicians as the media the northern ridge, the central ridge face public ire, the club was closed carried the story day in day out, even was under the Central Public Works down and relocated elsewhere on the airing ‘save the ridge’ spots during Department (CPWD), the Delhi ridge, only to lead to another legal bat- prime time news. Eminent citizens Administration, and the Land and tle subsequently, and its reopening at signed petitions and wrote letters pro- Development Office (L&DO) while the same place recently. claiming the Delhi Ridge forests as the the forest department owned the Another similar controversy ‘green lungs’ of the city. As the city was Asola Sanctuary land. No agency which illustrated the bias in land use experiencing massive air pollution wanted to relinquish control, and was at Bhatti mines, which is part of from a new influx of motor vehicles, it was clear that only a higher level the notified forest on the southern the campaign struck a vital chord.6 action could resolve the issue. boundary of the city. Owing to an affi- Given the public outcry and the davit filed in the Supreme Court by the 5. Mahesh Rangarajan writes that Indira Gan- dhi ‘took steps to secure the city forest in the complexity of the issues involved the Chief Secretary of Delhi, over 30,000 summer of 1980, when petitioned by a student Delhi government appointed a 10 residents living in three colonies group. What the group was unaware of was her member committee headed by Lovraj central role a few years earlier in getting key Kumar (then member Planning Com- Indian Air Force installation modified to pre- 7. Government of NCTD, Report of the Com- serve the skyline as well as the integrity of the mission) in April 1993 to frame a man- mittee to Recommend the Pattern of Manage- forest.’ Mahesh Rangarajan, ‘Striving For a agement plan for the Delhi Ridge. ment of the Delhi Ridge, , 2004. 50 Balance: Nature, Power, Science and India’s 8. Delhi Gazette, Notification No F.10(42)-I/ Indira Gandhi, 1917-1984’, Conservation & 6. For details of the campaign see Saving PA/DCF/93/2012-17(1), Development Society 7(4), 2009. www.conservationand the Delhi Ridge: One Year of Conservation Department, Govt. of NCT of Delhi, 24 May society.org Action. Srishti, New Delhi, 1994. 1994.

SEMINAR 613 – September 2010 adjacent to the Asola Wildlife Sanc- An early one dealt with the shifting of army area untouched and exempted tuary, were labelled as ‘encroachers’. the President’s polo ground from the 92 ha of the remaining for construc- Under direction from the Supreme central ridge to another location west- tion of a hotel. Subsequently in 2006, Court (1996),9 they were asked to wards known as Nicholson’s Range, the area again saw new constructions relocate, even though many adjoin- without tree felling or land diversion of institutions and shopping malls, ing private farmhouses were left clearance. Srishti and other groups despite no environmental clearances untouched. approached the to having been granted, and another long Many of them belonged to the stop this, and the case became head- drawn futile court battle. The area now Oad nomadic tribes, who are tradi- line news, since it served notice to the houses some of the most expensive tional diggers specializing in the cons- Chief of Army Staff. However, with shopping malls in the city, catering to truction of ponds and canals and had no help forthcoming from the forest a select few, even as the function of been workers in the now closed Bhatti department for providing boundary the ridge for the benefit of million of bajri mines (1975-1992). Through maps of the notified ridge, the court Delhi’s citizens is forever lost. Cur- political patronage two of the colonies let the army off with a warning.12 rently, in another case in the Delhi have managed to stay on to date, High Court, citizens are attempting to though their fate hangs in balance. protect what is left as a major ground- Meanwhile the Municipal Corpora- After the 1994 notification, the water recharge zone,14 with an esti- tion of Delhi (MCD) has proposed to DDA started treating all remaining mated recharge potential of 60 million use the mines as garbage landfills, areas as fair game for ‘development’, cubic meters annually.15 which would result in converting the even as many of them, such as the forest into a dump yard of the city, ridge, were forested and even as the poor are to be removed. earlier notifications still granted them One of the bodies formed to protect The matter is currently in the Supreme a status of reserve or protected forests. and restore the ridge forest is the Court, following a counter petition Amongst the most important fights Ridge Management Board (RMB – challenging this plea.10 concerned over 650 hectares of the hitherto referred to as the Board), con- Vasant Kunj ridge, half of which was stituted in October 1995, and which controlled by the army. In 1997, the reports to the Supreme Court.16 Heav- Unfortunately, several ridge areas DDA proposed the building of 13 five ily loaded with government function- which could have been included in star hotels (international hotel’s com- aries, the board is chaired by the Chief 1994 were left out, and have been sub- plex) on the area, despite a lush jun- Secretary of Delhi, and members such sequently built upon. Delhi is plagued gle and many small and large water as the Vice Chairman DDA, along by a multiplicity of civic authorities, bodies which existed there. On the with three civil society members. It is who work in isolation of each other. other hand, the hotels had a high probably a singular example of a high Hence, ‘other use’ claims for the for- water requirement of up to 1000 litres powered body which exists to protect est land emanate from several uncon- per room per day. a specific urban forest and along with nected quarters. Land developing An NGO, the Citizens for Lake the Central Empowered Committee agencies, transport bodies, civic serv- and Quarry Wilderness (CLQW), (CEC), appointed by the Supreme ice providers, and even security agen- along with others including Srishti cies all lay claim, such that making a and Kalpavriksh, approached the 13. Writ Petition (civil) 202 of 1995: 13 T.N. Godavarman Thirumulpad vs Union of case for keeping a ‘forest’ has become Supreme Court to stop this. The India, and Unison Hotels Ltd. vs DDA and Ors, 11 increasingly difficult. court rejected the project, but left the SLP (Civil) No 8960/97, both Supreme Court Several significant and often of India, Delhi. unsuccessful court battles have since 11. A curious proposal was made for the reha- 14. Ramesh Chopra and Ors vs UOI and Ors, ensued, and demonstrate the difficulty bilitation of captured ‘dancing bears’ on the WP © 11884-87/2006 in High Court of Delhi, Delhi. in protecting the ridge land. Most of Asola Wildlife Sanctuary (1998). The Delhi Government after giving the go-ahead to 15. Vikram Soni, ‘Three Waters: An Evalua- them relate to demands by state actors. the project without going into the technical or tion of Urban Groundwater Resource in financial aspects, had to withdraw it after Delhi’, Current Science 93(6), 25 September 9. M.C. Mehta vs UOI, WP(C) 4677/1985, experts declared the area inhospitable for the 2007. orders of 9 April 1996 and 9 May 1996, animal due to lack of water and green cover. 16. Constitution of Ridge Management Board, 51 Supreme Court of India, Delhi. 12. Srishti and Ors vs Govt. of NCT of Delhi, Office of the Development Commissioner, 10. IA in Almitra Patel vs UOI and Ors, WP(C) Chief of Army Staff and Ors,WP(C), 1996, Govt. of NCT of Delhi, No F.56 (225)/95/Dev./ 888/1996, Supreme Court of India, Delhi. High Court of Delhi, Delhi. No/5596-5612.

SEMINAR 613 – September 2010 Court, the board has become the nodal On another occasion, 5000 met- body for allowing any diversion of ric tonnes of rubble was dumped on land for non-forest use on the ridge. the ridge by the DDA, and though later In most instances, requests for removed, no action was ever initiated land diversion made to the board are against the offender (2004). Most by a government body, and the board recently, the Central Public Works often plays a conflicting role of adju- Department has dumped rubble dicating against institutions of the from a road bridge project into a wa- state. In each case ‘public purpose’ has ter body on the southern ridge, and been cited. Requests where ‘security citizens have gone to court to have this installations’, ‘public transport’, or removed (2009). Clearly there are ‘nationally important events’ like the limits to which any such protection Commonwealth Games are concerned can succeed, especially if the state have been granted, while others have agencies are themselves often an been disallowed. offending party. It is noteworthy that in almost all cases requests made by private parties have been denied. In recent years Many other pending issues remain some of the clearance demands have unresolved as well. The boundary of included those from the army for the notified ridge has not been verified security installations, the municipal- on the ground, and much of the forest ity for landfills, the Rail cover has been taken over by invasive Corporation for metro links, the Delhi exotic species. Not only do many Jal Board for building water tanks, the structures remain within the ridge Delhi Development Authority, the area whose future is uncertain, there erstwhile Delhi Electricity Supply remains a continuing tendency to con- Undertaking for laying transmission vert the forest into a horticultural park. lines, the Commonwealth Games Most people in Delhi have not Authority for stadiums and parking seen the ridge forest. It is distressing lots, the Delhi Police for building that the citizens have scant respect for police stations, and so on. the forest and garbage can be seen dumped in many places. Efforts to protect any area outside the notified Many government agencies have ridge have so far proved futile, since violated the ridge forest, but received even the courts have not been willing no punishment for doing so. One to extend any additional legal cover example is of the Central Public to the land. Today, it appears incon- Works Department (CPWD) building ceivable that such a large area can be a parking lot and public toilets in the protected as a forest outside a ‘deve- Mahavir Jayanti park under instruc- lopment zone’ in a city where land tions from the Minister for Urban demand is astronomically high. Ironi- Development and without any manda- cally, the metro rail, which traverses tory clearance from the board (2002). over the fabulous forested canopy, Though the CPWD was forced to provides a first spectacular bird’s reverse this action, no punitive action eye view of the forest to most people. was taken. Similarly, the Delhi Deve- One hopes that this may provide a lopment Authority (DDA) made a new impetus for citizens to save a road in the central ridge without per- unique natural urban forest, which is 52 mission, even though it is represented critical to the ecology of the city, and on the board. It required a court action whose future can hardly be taken for to stop this (2004). granted.

SEMINAR 613 – September 2010