New Delhi: In what is considered as a historic decision, the government of Delhi has decided to designate roughly 673.32 hectares of Central Ridge as a ‘Reserved Forest’. The notification, made under section 20 of the Indian Forest Act of 1927, ensures that a huge amount of green cover covering the Western Forest Division along with parts near Sardar Patel Marg and the President’s Estate gets the maximum degree of protection under the law. The notification comes to an end after nearly 32 years of administrative efforts towards this task.
Speaking about the notification, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said that this is a historical move for environmental preservation in the national capital territory of Delhi. In a press release issued from her office on Saturday, Ms. Gupta said that this notification will become a milestone in protecting the natural environment, biodiversity, and ecology of Delhi. With this notification, the government of Delhi will restrict any kind of human activity on this forest land.
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In the statement, the CM was quoted as saying, “The declaration completed an important process that had been pending for more than three decades.”
Other Ridge areas of the Capital would also soon be notified as reserved forests under Section 20 and that the process is being expedited, the official statement underlined.
The process leading to this landmark event took several decades. Though the areas of Ridge were initially declared by the government using the provisions of Section 4 of the Indian Forest Act on May 24, 1994, that declaration was just an intention to convert the lands into forests.
During the next three decades, the government had to go through the complicated procedure of “claims and settlements” wherein the Forest Settlement Officer had to settle all kinds of issues related to rights and lands. Declaration using Section 20 shows that all these legal procedures have been completed, and now this is the time when any new right cannot be created without the issuance of a formal government decree. As Delhi faces serious temperature and air problems nowadays, such protection of the Central Ridge becomes very important for the city.
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