More than 2,400 trees, most of them older than 60 years, have been removed from the heart of Delhi, not very far away from the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court of India
There is something unique about Delhi that distinguishes it from other places in the country. Delhi has a different meaning to different people. For some it is the national capital, for others it is a state as large yet so seamlessly interconnected like a free-flowing river system. For many others it is undoubtedly the country’s power and political nucleus. These seemingly benign perceptions transcend imaginations and often land up in courts since Delhi is also the judicial capital of the country with the High Court and the Supreme Court of India which are very approachable for the city’s activists and legal fraternity. One ongoing indulgence of the courts is on Delhi’s air which is known for its poor quality.
The Case – Delhi’s Forest Cover
Recently in an ongoing Suo Motu Case on Delhi’s deteriorating air quality, the High Court of Delhi made certain glaring observations on the reducing green cover in Delhi. The Court’s reaction was partly based on the technical assistance provided by the Amicus Curiae. The Hon’ble High Court seems to have been assisted on facts that do not confirm to the scientific data available in the public domain and suddenly the environmentalists and NGOs have questioned the data of the Forest Survey of India (FSI) on Delhi’s Forest cover. The FSI shows that forest cover in the state has increased by 3.03 square kilometres as compared to the previous assessment reported in ISFR 2017. This has again brought to the fore the legal definition of ‘forest’ in this debate. While there are no ambiguities on the legal definition of forests after the Supreme Court’s Order defining forest on 12.12.1996 in a famous forest case, its implications in Delhi where no forest land has been diverted for non-forestry purposes in the last four years are quite distinct.
Trees or Forest?
The environmentalist community and the courts are concerned about only ‘trees’ in the National Capital and concerns on the State of Forest reported by FSI seems misplaced. Moreover, it is also puzzling to see the subject of green cover come up only in relation to Delhi’s deteriorating air quality, while a well calibrated plan to shave off Delhi from its pristine tree cover has been carried out in the recent past. It is a known fact that more than 2,400 trees, most of them older than 60 years, have been removed from the heart of Delhi, not very far away from the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court of India. However, the reasoning has been that this exercise involves ‘transplanting’ thousands of trees which is different from ‘cutting the trees’ deriving legitimacy from the Tree Transplantation Policy brought out in 2020. The real number of trees removed is as high as 77,000 in some publicly available reports. The fact that thousands of trees in the heart of the oxygen starved capital were not accounted for their ecosystem services of improving the air and water quality while similar activities in fringe areas as the central ridge were, points towards their weak legal protection and an approving Delhi Tree Preservation Authority.
While everyone agrees on the importance of improving Delhi’s air quality, the alignment of approaches is essential
Vulnerable Landscape
According to the FSI 2019 Report, out of the 13% of the total geographical area of Delhi that is under forest cover, roughly 7% of it is reserved forest and has a higher degree of legal protection that includes 1.96% of the state’s area under the Asola Wildlife Sanctuary. Therefore, 93% of Delhi’s landscape is vulnerable to political pressures of various kinds redesigning and redeveloping a city that has already crossed its carrying capacity on various accounts. A large number of landscapes in Delhi exist under different nomenclature such as parks (Indraprastha Park), gardens (Lodi Garden), city forests (Jahpanah City Forest), nurseries (Sundar Nursery) and the recently added biodiversity parks. Each of these are a curate version of what once were very dense tree covers in the memories of denizens of Delhi who feel very strongly about the changes. One example is the overhaul of Sunder Nursery opposite to Humayun Tomb which turned from a natural forest into a manicured city garden landscape. Importantly, the degrees of ecological and legal standards maintained in these categories are not clear. In the past few years, nearly 33 projects have been pushed under the Smart City Mission for Delhi and they could be looked at for sustaining or increasing the green cover to make it smart. It is crucial that the attribute ‘green’ is now considered smart enough to qualify as investment. Hence, in the pursuit for redeveloping the National Capital, there is immense scope to consider the forest and tree cover. Forests and trees in Delhi are invoked only as a response to the city’s alarming air pollution level and not as essential features of a sustainable city that ought to be protecting its forest and tree cover.
Need for Enhanced Scientific, Legal and Institutional Protection
While everyone agrees on the importance of improving Delhi’s air quality, the alignment of approaches is essential. Given that Delhi is a cityscape that needs to integrate landscape planning to maintain its forest and tree cover, which is essential for current and future generations, as the Hon’ble High Court has echoed, the six municipal bodies of Delhi will need to join hands with the Delhi’s Forest Department, the Tree Authority and the recently established Delhi Biodiversity Council. All stakeholders involved need to join forces to come up with a landscape level planning wherein the city’s green areas get a higher degree of legal and scientific management with active participation of Delhi’s citizens. The Nagar Van Scheme of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India is a potential entry point provided that the ambiguities in it are cleared and Nagar Van is defined in a manner that protects it from future diversion and clearance, a fate met by the thousands of trees in Lutyen’s Delhi. Another opportunity lies in the 12% of the wasteland and fallow land in Delhi that could be used to restore the Capital’s environment and quality of life. The existing forest, miscellaneous green spaces under various categories and fallows combined can roughly match up to 25% of the area under some form of tree cover, way less than the requirement of 33% under the National Forest Policy of the country.
It is crucial that the attribute ‘green’ is now considered smart enough to qualify as investment.
In May 2022, the Governments of India and Germany signed a Joint Declaration of Intent on Forest Landscape Restoration which amongst other things will implement a project on restoring, conserving, and protecting forest as well as tree cover in the states of Delhi and NCR, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, and Maharashtra. Such initiatives can facilitate a holistic government approach where different institutions in the region come together to contribute to the state’s economic and ecological growth story.
Authors:
Shawahiq Siddiqui is a practicing environmental lawyer based in Delhi, Kundan Burnwal is a Senior Advisor with GIZ India
