NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Thursday sought a clarification from the city government on whether encroachments have been removed from the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary and the Central Ridge area in the national capital.“Government of NCT of Delhi will file a short affidavit explicitly stating that there is no encroachment in Asola and the Central Ridge,” directed a division bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan.
The bench also comprising Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh emphasised that the city government must ensure that the forest land remains free from encroachments and requested details of any court-issued stay orders regarding the alleged illegal colonies in the forest area in Central Ridge.“It cannot be that 700 illegal colonies are operating within the forest without any stay order. There should be no encroachment. The land should remain encroachment free,” the bench noted.
The high court was dealing with a group of public interest litigations on the issue of poor ambient air quality in the national capital, an issue which the high court has also taken up on its own (suo motu) and appointed an amicus curiae (friend of the court) to assist the court in this regard.During the hearing,Senior advocate Kailash Vasudev, the amicus curiae in the case, submitted that there exists around 1,770 unauthorised colonies in the national capital which have been sought to be regularised. Out of these almost 700 are on common village lands and in forestted areas.
The forest department submitted that there are some cases wherein petitioners have interim orders protecting them from removal of encroachment. The department shall include the list of these cases as well in the affidavit, their counsel told the high court.The Central Ridge which spreads over 864 hectares is managed by various authorities including the forest department, Delhi Development Area, Central Public Works department, Municipal Corporation of Delhi and New Delhi Municipal Council.
Considered the lungs of the national capital, the ridge is an extension of the Aravalli hill range in the city, a rocky terrain with extensive forests.Earlier, the high court had prohibited the undertaking of any construction activity, including building a boundary wall around the Tughlaq-era monument Malcha Mahal in the Central Ridge forest.