20/06/2011
Delhi, the green capital
Delhi: The state forests department has pulled off a significant achievement by
increasing Delhi’s forest cover ten fold in the past 16 years.
Delhi's green cover has increased from 2 per cent to more than 20 per cent in
the last 10 years," Shiela Dixit had announced this Tuesday, addressing a
Business Standard function. It is a striking achievement, especially since
Delhi is the country's second-largest metropolis by area and third-largest by
population, and has seen several large-scale infrastructure projects in recent
years -- even though the chief minister was not exactly right about the time
frame.
It was in 16 years, from 1993 to 2009, that Delhi's green cover had jumped from
22 sq km to 299.58 sq km, that is, from 1.48 per cent of its geographical area
to 20.20 per cent -- a ten-fold jump.
No wonder Delhi has the distinction of being among the greenest capitals in the
world, and despite its urban sprawl, is home to as many as 430 bird species.
How did this come about?
"The main reasons for the increase in forest cover...is new plantation," says
the State of Forest Report, 2009. Of these, Bhatti Mines is the showpiece of
successful afforestation and eco-restoration, primarily through the efforts of
the 132 Infantry Battalion (Territorial Army) -- the Eco Rajputs. In the last
10 years, the Eco Rajputs have planted 1.1 million saplings in the abandoned
mines spread over 2,100 acres in the south of the state.
Densification of the forest cover in The Ridge, described as the lungs of the
city, is a more recent initiative, as are the plantations along the national
highways, and important junctions such as ITO Chungi, which were undertaken in
the run-up to the Commonwealth Games, and around 175 water bodies in the
national capital region.
There is, of course, far more that can be done. "There is potential to plant
along 40 km of the riverfront," says a senior official of the state
government's forests and wild-life division. "But it is all in the hands of the
Delhi Development Authority."
The government has also created a Bambusetam, an area dedicated to various
bamboo species, at Garhi Mandu. Damaged by intense flooding in the last two
years, it had 27 species of bamboos including the Black Bamboo, Giganticus and
Guadua. The plan now is to shift it to a 10-acre site in Asola.
But it is the policy of "compensatory afforestation" that has yielded the most
results. A provision that goes back to the Delhi Preservation of Tree Act,
1994, and later strengthened by a state cabinet decision of 2010, it entails
the plantation of 10 trees for every one tree that is felled.
Under the scheme, five of these 10 trees are planted by the forests department
and five by the person/institution which felled the tree. In addition, the
latter deposits Rs 28,000 for every tree felled, half of which is refunded at
the end of five years if the plantations are found healthy and thriving. Under
this scheme, forests have been planted on behalf of large infrastructure
companies.
For instance, for Delhi Metro, the forests department has planted trees on more
than 250 hectares in Kakrola, Issapur, Mungeshpur, Rewla Khanpur, Najafgarh
Drain, Rajokri, Aya Nagar, Hindon Cut and many other sites since 2004.
Similarly, for the Delhi Airport, Bus Rapid Transport system, National Highway
Authority, Indian Oil Corporation, etc.
Not everyone is convinced, of course. "Compensatory afforestation," says Pradip
Krishen, environmentalist and author of Trees of Delhi, "is a whole lot of
bull. Lovely old-growth trees are cut down, and someone plants 10 trees in
their place. More often than not, what's planted is a weedy tree of no
ecological value whatsoever, chosen because it's not browsed by cattle or
goats.
The people who plant it feed their efforts into the system -- so many trees
planted, etc. But within a few months at most, they stop looking after these
trees. What do you think happens? In most cases -- and partly because the
choice of species is wrong to begin with -- the trees die."
