Milestone:
On Tuesday, September 17, 2024, the Supreme Court halted the felling of trees in Delhi’s Dwarka Forest. “We make it clear that no construction shall be carried out in the subject land.” The bench headed by justice AS Oka said. The next hearing has been scheduled for October 21, 2024, where the court has sought responses from Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) under the Ministry of Railways, the Delhi forest department, and the company executing the project.
Decision Makers:
Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change
Rail Land Development Authority
Ministry of Railways
Demands:
- Pass a stay order on the construction happening in the forest
- The 120-acre forest land in Dwarka, Delhi, must be given protected forest status
- The construction of mixed-use buildings (residential and commercial), parking, and connecting roads to be moved to an alternative site. One suggestion is the open land in
Sector-26, Dwarka, which is opposite the newly inaugurated Yashobhoomi Indian International Convention and Expo Centre Wildlife and trees should be left undisturbed.
All images credited to Save Dwarka Forest
*Save Dwarka Forest is one of the campaigns of Fridays For Future Delhi, a grassroots movement for the environment. The campaign includes citizens who are working on-ground to save the forest cover. FFF Delhi has shared this information with Jhatkaa.org*
This summer Delhi broke a 74-year record with a 40-day streak of recording temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius in May and June. The city also recorded an extraordinarily long heatwave this year. As temperatures soared to an unbearable 50 degrees Celsius, hospitals in Delhi had to set up emergency heat stroke units to treat patients who had heat-related illnesses.
Making matters worse, the Dwarka forest – a dense green cover – located near Terminal 3 of Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi is being cleared to build mixed-use buildings, roads connecting to these buildings, and car parking.
Permission for chopping tens of thousands of trees in the forest was granted by the National Green Tribunal in February, 2024, while declaring the land a non-forest, despite multiple appeals by locals and environmentalists to save one of the last natural biodiversity hotspots of the city.
What’s the issue?
To give some context, the 120-acre land was acquired by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) in the 1960s and once again by the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) in 2008. Around this time, a forest started to grow naturally on the same land across a 2-km stretch. In 2021, the RLDA started burying trees alive in the soil, rather than transplanting or cutting them, for its Bijwasan Railways Redevelopment Project. It is important to note that no valid permission was granted to fell the trees until 2024. In 2022, upon the complaint of a local, Naveen Solanki, a survey was carried out by the Forest Department officials. They found 990 trees that had been damaged – most of them buried alive. On July 14, 2022, the Forest Department levied a fine of approximately Rs 6 crores on the RLDA. However after paying the fine, the RLDA began cutting and burying the trees again and all subsequent complaints related to tree violations were allegedly ignored by the Forest Department till 2023, according to the Save Dwarka Forest collective.
In February 2024, National Green Tribunal (NGT) declared the 120-acre patch a non-forest land. Six days after the NGT ruling on the forest, the Supreme Court of India gave back the protection status to Deemed Forests in the country.
*A deemed forest is any piece of land that has a minimum of 100 trees in minimum 2 score of the total vegetation of 2.5 acres. By default then, any such patch of land where there are trees in at least 2.5 acres comes under the ‘Deemed forest’ category. This means that the Dwarka forest was previously a deemed forest as upheld by the Godavarman judgment of 1996. According to this judgment, any area that meets the dictionary meaning of a forest should be considered a forest and protected under the FCA of 1980 – even if it is not officially recorded as a forest.*
Why is the Dwarka Forest important?
The forest is home to diverse species including 65 bird types, 50 Nilgai, wild rabbits, jungle cats, and Indian lizards. Situated near the Sahibi river lies, it is part of the migratory route of birds to Great Najafgarh Lake, reducing overpopulation stress there. The Dwarka forest absorbs carbon emissions from Delhi Airport, protecting citizens from jet fumes and regulating the urban heat island effect. It recharges groundwater, preventing areas like Dwarka and Kapashera from sinking due to excessive extraction.
We are urging authorities to save Dwarka forest and consider alternative areas to the proposed project. Currently, the forested area has been fenced and access of animals cut off.
Volunteers on-ground saw multiple JCBs digging out mud, exposing tree roots and endangering them. Many trees remain buried alive under huge piles of mud. These actions pose an imminent threat to the forest and could cause irreversible damage to the ecosystem.
Foundation of roads and commercial buildings at the site where a dense forest once stood has already allegedly begun to be laid.
We must act before it is late!
#savedwarkaforest
Sources:
Milestone:
On Tuesday, September 17, 2024, the Supreme Court halted the felling of trees in Delhi’s Dwarka Forest. “We make it clear that no construction shall be carried out in the subject land.” The bench headed by justice AS Oka said. The next hearing has been scheduled for October 21, 2024, where the court has sought responses from Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) under the Ministry of Railways, the Delhi forest department, and the company executing the project.
Decision Makers:
Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change
Rail Land Development Authority
Ministry of Railways
Demands:
- Pass a stay order on the construction happening in the forest
- The 120-acre forest land in Dwarka, Delhi, must be given protected forest status
- The construction of mixed-use buildings (residential and commercial), parking, and connecting roads to be moved to an alternative site. One suggestion is the open land in
Sector-26, Dwarka, which is opposite the newly inaugurated Yashobhoomi Indian International Convention and Expo Centre Wildlife and trees should be left undisturbed.
All images credited to Save Dwarka Forest
*Save Dwarka Forest is one of the campaigns of Fridays For Future Delhi, a grassroots movement for the environment. The campaign includes citizens who are working on-ground to save the forest cover. FFF Delhi has shared this information with Jhatkaa.org*
This summer Delhi broke a 74-year record with a 40-day streak of recording temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius in May and June. The city also recorded an extraordinarily long heatwave this year. As temperatures soared to an unbearable 50 degrees Celsius, hospitals in Delhi had to set up emergency heat stroke units to treat patients who had heat-related illnesses.
Making matters worse, the Dwarka forest – a dense green cover – located near Terminal 3 of Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi is being cleared to build mixed-use buildings, roads connecting to these buildings, and car parking.
Permission for chopping tens of thousands of trees in the forest was granted by the National Green Tribunal in February, 2024, while declaring the land a non-forest, despite multiple appeals by locals and environmentalists to save one of the last natural biodiversity hotspots of the city.
What’s the issue?
To give some context, the 120-acre land was acquired by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) in the 1960s and once again by the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) in 2008. Around this time, a forest started to grow naturally on the same land across a 2-km stretch. In 2021, the RLDA started burying trees alive in the soil, rather than transplanting or cutting them, for its Bijwasan Railways Redevelopment Project. It is important to note that no valid permission was granted to fell the trees until 2024. In 2022, upon the complaint of a local, Naveen Solanki, a survey was carried out by the Forest Department officials. They found 990 trees that had been damaged – most of them buried alive. On July 14, 2022, the Forest Department levied a fine of approximately Rs 6 crores on the RLDA. However after paying the fine, the RLDA began cutting and burying the trees again and all subsequent complaints related to tree violations were allegedly ignored by the Forest Department till 2023, according to the Save Dwarka Forest collective.
In February 2024, National Green Tribunal (NGT) declared the 120-acre patch a non-forest land. Six days after the NGT ruling on the forest, the Supreme Court of India gave back the protection status to Deemed Forests in the country.
*A deemed forest is any piece of land that has a minimum of 100 trees in minimum 2 score of the total vegetation of 2.5 acres. By default then, any such patch of land where there are trees in at least 2.5 acres comes under the ‘Deemed forest’ category. This means that the Dwarka forest was previously a deemed forest as upheld by the Godavarman judgment of 1996. According to this judgment, any area that meets the dictionary meaning of a forest should be considered a forest and protected under the FCA of 1980 – even if it is not officially recorded as a forest.*
Why is the Dwarka Forest important?
The forest is home to diverse species including 65 bird types, 50 Nilgai, wild rabbits, jungle cats, and Indian lizards. Situated near the Sahibi river lies, it is part of the migratory route of birds to Great Najafgarh Lake, reducing overpopulation stress there. The Dwarka forest absorbs carbon emissions from Delhi Airport, protecting citizens from jet fumes and regulating the urban heat island effect. It recharges groundwater, preventing areas like Dwarka and Kapashera from sinking due to excessive extraction.
We are urging authorities to save Dwarka forest and consider alternative areas to the proposed project. Currently, the forested area has been fenced and access of animals cut off.
Volunteers on-ground saw multiple JCBs digging out mud, exposing tree roots and endangering them. Many trees remain buried alive under huge piles of mud. These actions pose an imminent threat to the forest and could cause irreversible damage to the ecosystem.
Foundation of roads and commercial buildings at the site where a dense forest once stood has already allegedly begun to be laid.
We must act before it is late!
#savedwarkaforest
Sources:
