Delhi Ridge put to private use, officials turn blind eye

GREEN OASIS OR CHOKED FOREST? Urbanisation and concretisation have left Delhi Ridge battered and fragmented.

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New Delhi: The Delhi Ridge, the sole green lung of the city is today under threat. The forest, residents allege, is being encroached upon by the land mafia.

Delhi Ridge RWA President, Imtiaz says, "Trucks come at night here. There is a small room that they have constructed on one corner, half complete, which is what they use."

Till January 2008, the ridge was protected forest land, but today, it's difficult to recognise it.

Says a resident of the area, Abdul, "Till January 29, 2008, there was the board of the Forest Department on which was written that this is protected ridge land, but when they erected the wall, the encroachments began.

The problem began when the Forest Department decided to create a boundary wall demarcating the Ridge. Residents claim that the new boundary has been pushed inside, leaving large tracks of forests open to encroachment.

But when contacted, the Forest Department refused to take responsibility.

In a letter sent to CNN-IBN, the department claims: "The construction of the boundary wall is being carried out as per the demarcation given by Revenue Department."

But legal experts say that the law of the land is clear - an area marked as forest land cannot be put to any non-forest use.

In this it's not a question of public or private land, it's a question of forest and the forest department can exercise its jurisdiction because land use is being changed.

Delhi Ridge pays a daily service to the city by recharging its ground water, but rapid urbanisation and concretisation have left the forest battered and fragmented. The Delhi government now needs to step in to save the city's Green lungs.