A proposal to use nearly 12.6 hectares of land at the President’s Bodyguard (PBG) parade ground near Rashtrapati Bhavan, including 7.58 hectares of protected Ridge land, is among 34 projects being examined by the Standing Committee of the Delhi Ridge Management Board (SCDRMB), The Indian Express has learnt.
Minutes of the July 29 meeting of the SCDRMB, made available this month and accessed by The Indian Express, show that the committee has selected 10 of the 34 proposals for physical inspection.
While four of these will be inspected by the Standing Committee itself, six will be inspected by the Chief Conservator of Forests along with committee members, with the inspections to be completed before August 20. The projects span construction, infrastructure, land use and other works.
The PBG proposal seeks use of the land at the Central Ridge, opposite Gate 28 of Rashtrapati Bhavan, for training requirements. Officials said the proposal includes 7.58 hectares of additional protected Ridge land.
The Ridge is Delhi’s forested and rocky green area that runs through several parts of the Capital.
The 34 proposals cover construction, infrastructure, land use and other works.
They include the Delhi-Karnataka Namo Bharat Corridor, a project at Jawaharlal Nehru University, development or redevelopment of Buddha Jayanti Park, conservation work at Sanjay Van, infrastructure projects at Army Hospital (R&R), Delhi Cantonment, and an office building for the ITBP.
JNU has sought permission for use of 2.262 hectares of land for construction of a lecture hall complex, incubation centre and special centre for e-learning.
The list has also features proposals for a new road in Sangam Vihar, drainage work on M B Road, digging in the Central Ridge to lay an electric cable to Bhuli Bhatiyari ka Mahal, and a service road from Hanuman Mandir, Basant Gaon, to Niryat Bhawan on the Outer Ring Road.
Several private construction and redevelopment proposals are also on the list, involving properties in Vasant Kunj, Vasant Vihar, Greater Kailash II, Okhla Industrial Area, Kailash Colony, East Patel Nagar and Malkaganj, among others.
During site inspections, the committee will check whether the proposed work falls within the approved Morphological Ridge boundary and matches revenue records and authenticated GIS maps. It will also examine whether the proposed work is necessary and whether a feasible alternative outside the Ridge exists.
The impact of excavation, rock cutting, blasting and tree felling on slope stability, drainage, natural landforms, vegetation and the ecological integrity of the Ridge will also be assessed. It will also check compliance with the Forest (Conservation) Act, Wildlife (Protection) Act, the Master Plan for Delhi and Supreme Court and Ridge Management Board directions.
The approach was laid down at the committee’s first meeting itself. It decided that proposals involving felling of more than 100 trees or diversion of more than one hectare of Ridge or Morphological Ridge land would require a site inspection by all members of the Standing Committee before the proposal is considered.
In other cases, the chairman can nominate two members to inspect the site and submit a report.
The July meeting also dealt with a separate complaint concerning alleged illegal construction and mining by R R Texknit LLP in Vasant Kunj. Separately, the Board is working on identifying encroachments in different Ridge areas.
The DDA has been asked to submit, within four weeks, status reports on demarcation and identification of encroachments in the South Central, Northern and Nankpura Ridges, while similar reports are to be submitted for the Central and Southern Ridges, officials said.
The Standing Committee’s next meeting is tentatively scheduled for August 21.
