Forest to photo-op: How scant wilderness is tamed for leisure

It's 7.15pm, and Sanjay Van is shifting into its nocturnal rhythm. The howls of golden jackals and the plaintive cries of peacocks echo across the ridge as the city sinks into darkness.

- Paras Singh and Jasjeev Gandhiok

NEW DELHI: But in a clearing not far from Mayur Pahadi, another sound rises — music. A soft, persistent hum of conversation and clinking cups wafts from a newly minted café nestled within Delhi's oldest reserve forest.

Its three walls glow with light, and despite the supposed 7pm closing time, cold coffee is still being served. "We'll be back early morning tomorrow," says one of the operators, packing up for the night.

This is the "LG Rock Café," part of a new wave of "eco-tourism" efforts aimed at transforming Delhi's forests into curated leisure spaces. The thrust is clear: convert green lungs into "Instagrammable", picnic-friendly zones. But in doing so, landowning agencies may be unmaking what little sanctuaries of wilderness remain in the urban sprawl that is Delhi.

The makeover is striking. Outside the café, metal tables rest on neatly manicured grass, flanked by benches carved to resemble tree trunks. Bougainvillea blooms in ornamental pots. A fabricated waterfall gurgles at the edge of the site, fed by water tanks, hidden pipes, and electricity lines.