Central Ridge Mostly Declared Reserved Forest

Delhi’s Central Ridge just got a lot harder to mess with. On May 10, the Delhi government notified 673.32 hectares of it as reserved forest, which is the strongest forest-law protection available under the Indian Forest Act. That sounds bureaucratic, but the practical point is simple — this is Delhi’s rocky green spine, and for decades big parts of it sat in a half-protected limbo. Now most of the Central Ridge has moved out of that gray zone. ### What is the Central Ridge, exactly? The Ridge is the Delhi end of the ancient Aravalli system — scrub forest, rocky outcrops, groundwater recharge zones, and habitat stitched through a dense city. It is often called Delhi’s “green lungs” because it cools the city, breaks dust flow, and gives wildlife a corridor in a place that keeps getting built over. Delhi’s forest department treats the wider Ridge as recorded forest land spread across multiple divisions, not just one park with one fence around it. (hindustantimes.com) ### What changed on May 10? The government issued a Section 20 notification for 673.32 hectares of the Central Ridge. That matters because Section 4 is only the opening step in the process of declaring a reserved forest, while Section 20 is the part that closes the loop and gives the area final legal status. Indian Express notes that Delhi’s Ridge areas first got the preliminary Section 4 notification on May 24, 1994 — so this took nearly 32 years. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) ### Why is “reserved forest” a bigger deal? Because it sharply narrows what can legally happen on the land. Construction, diversion, and other non-forest uses face a much higher barrier once an area is formally notified as reserved forest. Basically, the state is no longer just saying “this is ecologically important.” It is saying “this land has a defined legal status, and changing that status is much harder.” (hindustantimes.com) ### How much of the Ridge is covered now? This notification pushes Delhi’s total reserved-forest-notified Ridge area to 4,754.14 hectares. Officials also said more than 75% of the Central Ridge is now under this stronger protection. That is the headline number because it shows this was not a token patch — it covered a large, meaningful chunk of one of the city’s most contested green zones. (hindustantimes.com) ### Why did this take so long? Turns out the gap between “proposed forest” and “finally notified forest” can stretch for decades. Delhi’s Ridge has been tied up in boundary questions, overlapping agencies, encroachment fights, and repeated litigation. The National Green Tribunal had already pushed the government in 2021 to move faster on reserved forest notifications, and reporting through 2025 showed the issue was still snarled in delays and institutional overlap. (hindustantimes.com) ### What was the risk in leaving it unresolved? A half-settled legal status invites a thousand small erosions. One road widening here, one compound wall there, one “temporary” structure that somehow stays. The Ridge does not usually disappear in one dramatic act — it gets nibbled away. Stronger notification does not end every dispute, but it gives officials and courts a firmer line to defend. (thehindu.com) ### What happens next? The government has signaled more plantation work with native species in suitable Ridge areas, but the real test is enforcement, not ceremony. Reserved status only matters if agencies stop fresh encroachments, hold the line on land use, and manage the forest as habitat rather than leftover real estate. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) ### Bottom line This is one of those dry legal moves that changes the map in a real way. Delhi did not create a new forest on May 10. It finally gave a big piece of an old one the legal protection it had been waiting on since 1994. (indianexpress.com) (hindustantimes.com)