The Hindu : New Delhi News : Now a `green' encroachment on Delhi Ridge

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Sep 20, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Now a `green' encroachment on Delhi Ridge

By Anjali Dhal Samanta

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 19. Strange as it may sound, this is a park that is "encroaching" on the Capital's only forest belt, the Ridge Area. Called the R-Block Rajinder Nagar Park, according to the Ridge Management Board, this bit of green -- maintained by the Delhi Development Authority -- may well be illegal as it cuts into the city's treasured forest area.

While all the parks in the Ridge Area have to be declared, the existence of this park has never been bought to the notice of the Ridge Management Board. In fact, it was during a recent inspection of the Central Ridge Area that the members of the Board "discovered" the park, though DDA has been maintaining the park for years now. And apart from all the utilities of a park-area like benches and paths, a DDA office is also located in the park.

"We had gone for an inspection of the illegal cremation ground in the area when we came across this park. We did not even know that it existed. There is even a DDA office inside which is not allowed. It has a jungle gym, slides benches and even lights. But there is no mention of this park anywhere. It has never been declared by the DDA. This is a clear violation of the Forest Conservation Act because it has never been reported to us," said member of the Ridge Management Board, Ravi Aggarwal.

According to members of the Board, there is no clear demarcation between the park and the forest area. "It is becoming like an endless park. They keep cutting the trees to make the park bigger. The forest area has been cleared to construct mud paths around the park. In case of parks, there should be a proper boundary wall to demarcate the areas," said Mr. Aggarwal.

Meanwhile, a joint inspection of the park has been planned for this Monday by the Forest Department, DDA and members from the Ridge Management Board to examine the area.

While the Ridge Management Board and the Forest Department agree that the park is a part of the Ridge Area, the DDA maintains that the issue is "not clear" at the moment. "The Board wants to clear up the matter and therefore the joint inspection has been planned for Monday. We are looking into the matter right now," said the vice-chairman of DDA, Madhukar Gupta.

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