Final notification of Delhi southern Ridge in the works, NGT informed

DELHI'S RIDGE AREAS HAVE ALREADY BEEN NOTIFIED UNDER SECTION 4 OF THE INDIAN FOREST ACT IN 1994, BUT FINAL NOTIFICATION IS YET TO BE COMPLETED

- Jasjeev Gandhiok

NEW DELHI: Delhi's forest and wildlife department has informed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that it will carry out the final notification of the southern Ridge under the Indian Forest Act, 1927—a long-pending move that declares a land as a protected forest and defines its total area.

According to an affidavit by the department dated April 5, the notification of the 6,200-hectare green space will take place in three phases, with the first phase consisting of 3,287.07 hectares of land that is both free of any encroachment and also has no pending or ongoing litigation cases.

"A modified draft Phase-1 notification under section 20 of the Indian Forest Act for 3,287.07 hectares in the Southern Ridge Reserve forest has been again submitted for through the proper channel for kind approval of the Government of NCT of Delhi on April 3, 2025," the submission stated.

Officials said the file for phase one has been submitted to the Delhi government.

Earlier, in February 2021, the department had submitted a draft notification for nearly 3,630 hectares of the southern Ridge, but the final file submitted on April 3 removed certain patches from this phase.