Delhi: Delhi’s green cover has more than doubled since 2001, up from 151sq km in 2001 to 324.4sq km in 2019. While Delhi’s green cover currently stands at 21.9% of the total area, forest officials say they are targeting 25% coverage by 2025.
India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2019, submitted by Delhi forest and wildlife department to the high court, said the city’s green cover was just 10.2% of the total area (at 151sq km) in 2001.
As per the forest officials, the data collated from ISFR reports as submitted to Delhi high court reveals “The initial sudden spike could be due to a change in methodology, but the general trend has been of a gradual rise. Through annual greening drives and compensatory plantation, saplings can take 4-6 years to mature completely and some of these are also reflected in 2-3 years through satellite imagery. We carry out vacancy filling to replace dead trees and saplings too,” Ishwar Singh, principal chief conservator of forests, Delhi forest department, said.
In 2013, Delhi’s green stood at 20.1% of the total area, increasing to 20.2% in 2015 and 20.6% in 2017 (305.41sq km). In the next two years, a jump of around 6% was recorded, leading the increase to 324.4sq km. Delhi now has 21.9% of its geographical area under “green cover” well above the standard of 20% for any city in the plains.
Another forest official said, another 6,500 hectares will need to be brought under green cover to reach that target. The focus areas are likely to be Yamuna floodplain and new city forests on gram sabha land. “Land recovered from encroachments will be used to carry out plantations,” adding that if the current pace was maintained, Delhi could actually reach the target by 2023.
