An Introduction to the Delhi Ridge
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Sinha An Introduction to the Delhi Ridge Edited by G.N. Sinha Department of Forests & Wildlife Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi New Delhi 2014 An Introduction to the Delhi Ridge Edited by G.N. Sinha Department of Forests & Wildlife Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi New Delhi 2014 An Introduction to the Delhi Ridge ©2014, Department of Forests & Wildlife First published 2014 Citation: Sinha, G.N. (Ed.) (2014). An Introduction to the Delhi Ridge. Department of Forests & Wildlife, Govt. of NCT of Delhi, New Delhi. xxiv+154 pp. Citation of Chapter (e.g.): Shukla, A.K., Basu, Arnab., Singh, Nitisha. (2014). Flora and Fauna of Delhi Ridge. In: Sinha, G.N. (Ed.), An Introduction to the Delhi Ridge. Department of Forests and Wildlife, Govt. of NCT of Delhi, New Delhi, pp. 97-104. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written consent of the copyright owners. The information contained in this book is intended only to educate and spread awareness about the necessity to protect the Delhi Ridge. The editor, authors & publisher shall have no liability to any person or entity regarding any loss or damage incurred, or alleged to have incurred, directly or indirectly, by the information contained in this book. Published by Department of Forests & Wildlife Government of NCT of Delhi A-Block, 2nd Floor, Vikas Bhawan, I.P. Estate New Delhi – 110002 Telefax: 011-23378513 EDITOR G.N. Sinha, IFS Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests & Head, Department of Forests & Wildlife, Govt. of NCT of Delhi ADVISORY TEAM A.K. Shukla, IFS, CCF & CWLW Dr. Suneesh Buxy, IFS, CF Tarun Johri, IFS, DCF (Headquarters) AUTHORS G.N. Sinha, IFS, APCCF Prologue Varsha, Project Associate (Ridge) The Delhi Ridge Srishti Solanki, Project Associate (Land) Evolution of Statutory and Management Framework Nitisha Singh, Project Associate Conservation of Delhi Ridge Forest (Forestry) Arnab Basu, Project Associate (Wildlife) Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary A.K. Shukla, IFS, CCF, Arnab Basu, Flora and Fauna of Delhi Ridge Project Associate (Wildlife), Nitisha Singh, Project Associate (Forestry) Bhavna Sharma, Project Associate Technological Intervention for Protection (Ridge) of Delhi Ridge A.K. Shukla, IFS, CCF Epilogue DESIGNED & PRINTED BY M/s Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh 23-A, New Connaught Place, Dehradun, India PUBLISHED BY Department of Forests & Wildlife Government of NCT of Delhi A-Block, 2nd Floor, Vikas Bhawan, I.P. Estate New Delhi – 110002 Telefax: 011-23378513 E-mail: [email protected] 65-565-5<75-06;9/5C< | ,-J-4>/0" C</+9-3.@69B9-+..../ || #/D.><E6C3>2./-4,;.97-4 | 06-=D-*->4-+6465-C/4:>C<;4 || -Rig Veda, Book 10 Hymn 146 Goddess of wild and forest who seemest to vanish from the sight. How is it that thou seekest not the village? Art thou not afraid? …..Now have I praised the Forest Queen, sweet-scented, redolent of balm, The Mother of all sylvan things, who tills not but hath stores of food. -Rig Veda, Book 10 Hymn 146, tr. By Ralph T.H. Griffith [1896] Prologue The importance of the Ridge for the ecological security of the capital city of Delhi can hardly be overemphasized. There are records that the Ridge was accorded some degree of protection during the later period of the Mughal rule in India. The British India’s Gazetteer of Delhi 1883-84 records the presence of a vast faunal diversity in Delhi. The British Indian Government had also put in place robust statutory framework by way of notifications in 1913, declaring an area of 796.25 ha in 8 villages of Delhi as a Reserved Forest under the provisions of Indian Forest Act, 1878. Later on, some more notifications were issued which provided protection to the Ridge in Delhi. Serious initiatives to protect the Ridge started in the mid-1980s by a couple of Non-Governmental Organizations under the banner of Joint NGO Forum to Save the Delhi Ridge Forest, with prominent NGOs like WWF- India, Kalpvriksha, Srishti, People’s Commission on the Environment and Development of India, Conservation Society of Delhi, Drag and Kare. In the aftermath of spirited action by the NGOs and intervention by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, a roadmap for protection of the Ridge started unfolding. This led to the Government of Delhi appointing a Committee to recommend the pattern of management of the Delhi Ridge under the Chairmanship of Mr. Lovraj Kumar. The Lovraj Committee submitted its report in 1993, which was welcomed by the members of Joint NGO Forum to Save the Delhi Ridge Forest. The Supreme Court further directed the Delhi Government to issue the process for constitution of Reserved Forests of the area under the Ridge. As a result, the Government issued two notifications, one in 1994 and the other in 1996. These notifications were issued without a prior assessment of the availability of the Ridge land free from encumbrances. The Delhi Government also appointed Forest Settlement Officers to conduct the proceedings of constitution of Reserved Forests as per the provisions of the Indian Forest Act, 1927. The imperatives of protecting the Ridge were further amplified by the Supreme Court of India in Writ Petition No. 4677/1985 in the matter of viii An Introduction to the Delhi Ridge M.C. Mehta vs. Union of India and others. The Supreme Court also cajoled the Delhi Government to constitute a Ridge Management Board for protection of the Delhi Ridge through their orders on 1st September 1995 in the M.C. Mehta case. The M.C. Mehta case directions led to the constitution of the Ridge Management Board on 6th October 1995 under the Chairmanship of the Chief Secretary with Head of the Forest Department of Delhi Government as its Member Secretary. This Board had members from Government and NGOs. The Ridge Management Board, on its own volition, took a series of measures not only to carry out the directions of the Supreme Court, but also for the protection of the Ridge. There is a possibility that the Ridge was at one time continuous, but due to developmental expansion of the city and anthropogenic pressures, the continuity of the Ridge got wiped out intermittently. Today, it comprises of the Northern Ridge, Central Ridge, South-Central Ride and Southern Ridge. The rights of the claimants could not be settled in their entirety. Due to recent interventions by the National Green Tribunal, Forest Settlement Officers have expedited the process of settlement of the rights of the claimants, and it is hoped that the entire process of constitution of Reserved Forests will be completed soon. I joined the Government of Delhi in February 2012, without a formal taking over of charge. This was because my predecessor in the Department had retired three months prior to my arrival. I was, therefore, deprived of the briefings about the ongoing works in the Department. The records and works in this Department were scattered in various places, and there was nobody to apprise me of the availability of basic documents of the Department. This was coupled with a big fire which broke out in the Department on 20th April 2012 bringing to ashes all furniture, fixtures and records. This further brought down the departmental memory, which was already negligible, to ground zero. For better management of the Delhi Ridge, as also to attend to various Court’s interventions, I thought it desirable to first put together all the previous minutes of the Ridge Management Board, so that a consistent view may be taken for protection and conservation of Ridge. These minutes were Prologue ix also required by the Ridge Management Board in its normal transactions of business. I, therefore, started collecting previous minutes of the Ridge Management Board from countless files. Ms. Varsha, Project Associate (Ridge) under the Ridge Management Board, Mr. Rohit Kumar, Data Entry Operator and my support staff assisted me in the task of compilation of previous Ridge Management Board minutes. While looking for the minutes of the previous Board meetings in files which were spread in the Department, I came across a wealth of information not only about the Ridge matters, but also about the Department as a whole lying buried in files gathering dust. It struck me that the information buried in files may be of use to interested persons. The idea to bring out this book was born at that time. But executing this plan alone was a difficult task for me, due to my cumbersome and at times distressing and annoying nature of duty under the Delhi Government compared to my previous assignments. There was, however, a silver lining to the cloud. And this was the presence of five Project Associates under the Ridge Management Board engaged by me after a fair and competitive written test and interview. I, therefore, decided to entrust the responsibility of preparation of the manuscript into the competent hands of Ms. Varsha, Project Associate (Ridge), Ms. Srishti Solanki, Project Associate (Land Management), Ms. Nitisha Singh, Project Associate (Forestry), Mr. Arnab Basu, Project Associate (Wildlife) and Ms. Bhavna Sharma, Project Associate (Ridge) under my direct supervision. The Epilogue has been very ably written by my colleague Mr. A.K. Shukla, Chief Conservator of Forests & Chief Wildlife Warden in the Department. He was eminently suited for this, as he has distinction of organizing the work of the Department during 2000-2003. The manuscript was also reviewed by a team of officers comprising of Mr. A.K. Shukla, CCF, Dr. Suneesh Buxy, CF and Mr. Tarun Johri, DCF (HQ).