‘Native forest’ to come up in Ridge

New Delhi:  A patch of 100 hectares forest in central Ridge area along Sardar Patel Marg, will be restored jointly by the Delhi Forest Department and Delhi University scientists, as a part of the government’s plan to remove ‘vilayati kikar’ from the city’s forests. 

The project includes developing a 100m wide greenway, which will have a ‘native forest’, a walkway, and a recreational area along the Sardar Patel Marg — from Maurice Nagar to Rashtrapati Bhavan. This is the first phase of the Delhi government’s plan to remove ‘Vilayati Kikar’, the dominant Mexican tree species, which has eliminated the native species. The government had in the budget 2017-18, allocated Rs 50 lakh for the massive task, which found mention in this year’s speech as well. 

‘Vilayati Kikar’ or ‘Prosopis juliflora’ was planted by the British in Delhi in 1912-13 to beautify the wastelands and at present it has encroached upon more than 95 per cent of the Ridge area, which is also known as the lungs of the city. According to experts, the foreign species contains toxic chemicals and is a massive biological invasion by any alien species. 

The scientists will be using vines or ‘native climbers’ for killing and replacing the kikar. The climbers, once they reach the top of the kikar, will gradually engulf the entire canopy, as a result of which the kikar won’t get sunshine and will not be able to grow, explained Prof C R Babu, who heads the biodiversity project of Centre for Environmental Mange-ment of Degraded Ecosy-stems at Delhi university. Simultaneously, the 100 hectares patch will be developed with native species. 

“Inside the Ridge area along the S P Marg, we will develop a greenway which will act as a natural forest ecosystem and provide habitat for flora and fauna. Within the greenway, we will develop a walkway and people who will pass through this will feel like they are walking through a dense forest,” said Prof Babu. 

He added that the greenway will not only filter all the pollutants on the stretch but will also provide environmental microbiome, “which is must for enriching human microbiome”. “Human microbiome is critical for preventing health risks and people who walk through or spend some time in this natural ecosystem will be able to get this enrichment, which does not exist in parks,” he said. The plan has been submitted to the Forest department, which has said that it will be approved in the upcoming Ridge Management Board meeting.