Ridge documentation pact
DDA signed an MoU with INTACH to document Ridge heritage structures with formal heritage trails and signages, a concrete preservation step for Old Delhi’s landscape. (x.com)
The DDA published the announcement of the pact on its official X account on April 2, 2026. (x.com) News reports give the signing date as April 2, 2026, when the agency formalised the collaboration with INTACH. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) The Ridge targeted by the agreement spans roughly 8,000 hectares and is administratively divided into four zones: Northern, Central, South-Central and Southern Ridge. (delhitourism.gov.in) INTACH’s governing body elected Ashok Singh Thakur as chairman on March 22, 2025, positioning the trust’s national network and chapter structure to lead large-scale surveys and listings. (aninews.in) (intach.org) DDA points to earlier conservation projects — including restorations unveiled at Sanjay Van and works in the Mehrauli area — as institutional experience that will feed into the Ridge documentation effort. (hindustantimes.com) The pact arrives after scrutiny by a Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee that in 2024 recommended action against the DDA for unauthorised construction and the felling of roughly 750 trees in parts of the Ridge. (housing.com) The Supreme Court has also asked for a single management proposal for the Ridge and set a submission timetable (proposal sought by May 29), a directive likely to define which agency implements inventories, trails and signages. (hindustantimes.com)
