In an effort to enhance legal protections for one of the Capital’s most ecologically vital regions, the Delhi government has recently approved the Phase-I notification to designate 112.3 hectares of the Northern Ridge, part of the Aravalli range, as a reserved forest under Section 20 of the Indian Forest Act of 1927. Notably, 8.61 hectares of designated land were excluded from this reserved status.
This decision is particularly important given that data indicates over 2,073 hectares of encroached forest land in the Capital will remain unprotected, even with the implementation of this initial notification.
This recent action follows a series of announcements by the government aimed at reserving various segments of the Ridge as forest land. In May, the government had recognized 673.32 hectares of the Central Ridge as a reserved forest. In September, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta revealed a draft notification to designate 400.541 hectares across 15 villages in the Southern Ridge as reserved. Just weeks later, on October 2, another Phase-I notification was approved for 112.328 hectares of the Northern Ridge.
Despite these efforts, numerous land parcels previously earmarked for reservation have been omitted from the notifications. For instance, the Delhi Forest department’s Working Plan for the Northern Ridge, which received formal approval from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), identifies the area under the jurisdiction of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) as 138 hectares. However, only 121 hectares were considered for demarcation, with merely 112.3 hectares included in the final Phase-I notification as a reserved forest.
Similarly, when the Delhi government published its May 2026 gazette notification for the 991.9 hectares of demarcated land in Central Ridge, only 673.32 hectares were approved under Section 20. Four specific areas were excluded from this notification: the President’s Bodyguard Ground (12.6 hectares), an ISRO Earth Station (0.68 hectares), the historic Malcha Mahal monument (0.09 hectares), and a water pump station (0.15 hectares), with the intention of including them in future notifications.
Furthermore, in an affidavit submitted to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) last month, the Deputy Conservator of Forests (P&M) defended the phased approach, acknowledging that the final notifications under Section 20 of the Indian Forest Act are being delayed due to ongoing encroachments, pending legal disputes, and incomplete revenue proceedings.
The Phase-II (A) notification for the 400.541 hectares in the Southern Ridge is currently awaiting approval from the Lieutenant Governor, while significant areas in Phase-II (Part B) have yet to be notified. The NGT submission highlighted that these excluded areas are greatly affected by unauthorized constructions, village settlements, jhuggi jhopri (JJ) clusters, and religious sites. Additionally, these areas are undergoing “joint ground re-verification” with the Revenue department to assess their legal status.
Recent minutes from the Delhi Ridge Management Board’s meeting held on June 29 revealed that out of a total of 7,772.3 demarcated hectares across all Ridge zones, 2,073.226 hectares remain unprocessed for notification, as they include khasras linked to government allocations, pending Tatima proceedings, court stays, and private khasras that are still in the settlement process.
Although the Ridge areas in Delhi were initially notified under Section 4 of the Indian Forest Act on May 24, 1994, formal protection is established through Section 20 of the Act, granting the area its enforceable reserved forest status after the resolution of claims and settlements.
This ongoing issue of securing ‘reserved forest’ status has received attention from the courts over the years. For example, a report from the Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee in May 2024 noted that at least five percent of the Ridge area is encroached upon, four percent has been diverted, and only 1.33 percent has been officially notified under Section 20.
In a November 2025 ruling, Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran remarked, “It cannot be claimed that the lack of notification as a Reserved Forest deprives the area of any protection. However, without proper statutory safeguards, it is challenging to maintain the integrity of the Ridge. The GNCTD has not acted swiftly in safeguarding the Ridge, and not much progress has been made in nearly three decades.”
In response, the NGT directed the Delhi Forest department in May this year to provide updates on the Central Ridge notification status and urged the Delhi Ridge Management Board (DRMB) to expedite efforts to eliminate large-scale encroachments. Previously, in a 2021 order, the tribunal emphasized the urgent need to finalize the Section 20 notification for Ridge protection and mandated that notifications be issued within three months for areas without disputes.
Sophiya Mathew is a correspondent for The Indian Express, based in New Delhi. She joined the Delhi bureau in 2024 and specializes in Integrated Multimedia Journalism from the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), Chennai.
Her primary reporting focuses on environmental issues and education, earning recognition for her in-depth coverage of the Yamuna floodplains and the socio-economic challenges faced by residents in those areas. She also examines disparities within Delhi’s education system, ranging from elite private institutions to government schools.
