Central Ridge 'green heritage' can't allow degeneration Delhi HC pulls up authorities

New Delhi, May 13 (PTI) Calling the Central Ridge the national capital's "green heritage", the Delhi High Court has said it cannot be allowed to degenerate when the city is already grappling with rising pollution levels that have attained "dangerous proportions".
     The court took a "serious view" of the Central Ridge being used as a garbage dumping ground as well as the felling of trees and removal of the shrubs there, and sought an explanation from the forest department on these lapses.
     The court, while hearing a case concerning the well-being of the ridge, directed forest department and other local authorities to ensure that no dumping of garbage or any other waste material is carried out in the Central Ridge.
     It also ordered that no further felling of trees or removal of shrubs and other bushes will be allowed in the area without its permission.
     The court, in an order passed on May 6, noted that certain photographs showed large scale dumping of garbage in the Central Ridge as well as presence of black soil, indicating that the area was burnt down which led to trees and shrubs being destroyed.
     The Central Ridge is an extension of the Aravalli hill range in Delhi and is a rocky and forested area. It has been divided into four zones — south, south-central, central and north — due to administrative reasons. These four zones make up a total area of around 7,784 hectares.
     "The Central Ridge cannot be allowed to be degenerated in this manner by felling of trees and removal of the shrubs, when the city is already grappling with the pressing issue of rising pollution levels, which have attained dangerous proportions. Further, it is also appalling to note that the Central Ridge, which is our green heritage, is being used as a dumping ground of garbage and other waste materials," stated the court.
     "This court has taken a serious view of this matter, as the Central Ridge provides not only the precious green cover in the City, but is also valuable for maintenance of the environment balance in the city, which is already facing serious concerns on account of severe pollution," said Justice Mini Pushkarna in the order.
     "This is a very serious state of affairs... Considering the aforesaid grave lapses in maintaining the precious green cover in the Central Ridge, the Forest Department is directed to submit an explanation as to how and in what manner, the felling of trees and dumping of garbage and other waste materials, has been allowed to take place in the Central Ridge," the bench ordered.
     The court sought an action taken report from the authorities within two weeks.
     It observed that the forest officials had given an undertaking last year assuring adequate monitoring and deployment of staff to ensure that there is no dumping of material in the Central Ridge or felling of trees without intimation, however the material before the bench showed not only felling of trees but also large tracks of the ridge have been made bereft of any trees or shrubs.
     The bench also directed the DCF (West Division) to appear before it through video conferencing on May 24.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)