New Delhi: Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is cutting invasive trees, especially vilayati kikars, at Sanjay Van these days as part of the eco-restoration programme for Delhi Ridge. The 783-acre city forest in Mehrauli, part of South Central Ridge, is managed and maintained by DDA.“Under the approved working plan for Delhi Ridge, as formulated by Forest Research Institute (FRI), only the invasive species, particularly Prosopis juliflora (vilayati kikar), are being removed in accordance with the prescribed guidelines. The authority is also digging pits simultaneously to plant native saplings,” said officials.“The eco-restoration project is also under way in Kamla Nehru and other Ridge areas falling in the jurisdiction of Delhi govt’s forest department. The objective is to restore ecological balance, improve soil and water conditions, and enhance biodiversity,” said officials.While the removal of invasive trees is considered essential, the process has been met with challenges and criticism from environmental activists. Pradip Krishen, author of Trees of Delhi and a restoration practitioner for 20 years, pointed to serious problems with FRI’s working plan.“It treats all of Delhi’s forests and biodiversity parks like timber plantations. Restoration is about recovering the natural functions and processes of a degraded ecosystem. It is about healing, looking after the soil and the microorganisms that live in the top 3 or 4 inches of a living soil. But none of this figures in the working plan,” he said.“Moreover, tree planting on a large scale does not amount to restoration. And when you plant the wrong kinds of trees like jamun and Arjun, which are riverside trees, this is even worse,” Krishen pointed out. “As far as vilayati kikar is concerned, it needs to be removed slowly and by methods that do not disturb the soil, which is the most important asset of the semi-wild tracts of Delhi. Using earthmovers does an enormous amount of damage.”Saplings are being planted at a distance of 1.2 metres, while the trees have canopies that are 10-15 metres wide and more, he said. “How will these trees grow properly in such close proximity?”The project of removal of the species from a small patch in Central Ridge started in 2022. Following the preparation of Delhi’s first 10-year working plan by FRI, the forest department initiated the removal of vilayati kikar from 120 hectares of Central Ridge and 600 hectares of Southern Ridge. The working plan will be in force till 2036-37 and focuses on removing three major invasive tree species — vilayati kikar, eucalyptus and leucaena leucocephala — together accounting for nearly 40% of the city’s forest growing stock.
