On April 20, 2026, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta reinstated the Green Helpline (1800-118-600) and instituted a new standard operating procedure to report tree-related offences. The initiative had originally been rolled out in 2020 under former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. It was part of his government’s Yuddh Pradushan Ke Viruddh (War Against Pollution) campaign, which sought to increase citizen participation in mitigating air pollution. In a video shared across social media platforms, Gupta urged Delhi residents to report cases of illegal tree-felling. She also pledged to undertake an extensive tree-planting drive in the upcoming monsoon season to increase Delhi’s green cover.

Many people rolled their eyes at the announcements, given that they came from a leader of the BJP, which is known for its anti-environment measures. The most recent among these involves the Department of Forest and Wildlife’s plans for revamping Delhi’s Central Ridge, a 1.5-billion-year-old dry deciduous forest area within the national capital. In March 2026, the department floated a tender to develop four “themed forests” on the ridge. Named Tirthankar Van, Ritu Van, Rashi Van, and Panchvati Van, they refer to a Hindu and Jain religious figure, to the seasonal cycle, the zodiac, and a mythological garden. The document mentions two pesticides to be used in the forest: lindane and chlorpyrifos.

The use of lindane has been prohibited by the Central Insecticide Board and Registration Committee since 2011. The Stockholm Convention describes it as a persistent organic pollutant. Chlorpyrifos is known to collapse soil ecosystems by suppressing earthworms and other decomposers. It is highly toxic to several bird species, fish, and aquatic invertebrates, with the potential to bioaccumulate in the tissues of aquatic organisms and their predators. It is also lethal to bees.

According to the forest department document, these pesticides are intended to target termite populations. But the very concept of anti-termite treatments in forest ecosystems was discredited nearly five decades ago. With advancement in ecological research, termites are now widely recognised as ecosystem engineers, particularly vital to dry forest ecologies. They decompose the cellulose found in dead wood and leaf litter, thereby putting essential nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus back into the soil. In addition, their foraging tunnels create macropores, enhancing water infiltration and adding to soil moisture.

Following complaints lodged by activists and a wave of public outrage, the forest department issued a corrigendum in April withdrawing the proposal to use chlorpyrifos and lindane and advocating the adoption of eco-friendly alternatives. While the cavalier sanctioning of banned pesticides does provoke concern, there is a more dire issue at stake here. It involves the impulse to commodify and reconfigure natural ecosystems for urban consumption. The tender document envisages the clearing of over 40,000 square metres of forest land and authorises mechanised excavation and earthwork, as well as canopy pruning and broader vegetation alteration.

Parts of the Central Ridge were designated as reserved forest as early as 1912. In 1994, the Supreme Court mandated the preservation of the ridge’s “pristine glory” and directed the establishment of the Ridge Management Board (RMB) in 1995 to oversee its conservation.

Lack of coherence

The current attempt to create the themed forests within the Central Ridge contravenes four key forest protection statutes: the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980; Indian Forest Act, 1927; Environment (Protection) Act, 1986; and Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. It also goes against Supreme Court directives that have consistently affirmed that all forests—whether reserved or deemed as reserved—are protected, and that any non-forest activity necessitates prior approval. The tender make no mention of clearances from any competent authority for the project estimated to cost around Rs.5 crore.

The environmental activist Bhavreen Kandhari said that the project is an attempt to grab forest land under the guise of development. “Take the example of an airport. There is a clear element of necessity [involved in its development]: you need [land for] infrastructure, connectivity, the movement of people and goods. It demands a defined, limited area. However, airports have now expanded far beyond that strict necessity to include shops, restaurants, and hotels. So they occupy far more land than required. In effect, [such projects] have become mechanisms for land acquisition,” she said.

Recent government projects have typically refused to take into account the ecological repercussions of development. According to data submitted to Parliament by the government, no trees were felled for the Central Vista Redevelopment Project; they were transplanted to alternative locations. Data released by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs revealed that 43 per cent of the transplanted trees have since perished.

The environmental schemes of the BJP government in Delhi are marked by a troubling lack of coherence. At an event in north Delhi on April 29, Gupta announced a proposal to establish 13 new gaushalas (cow shelters), one in each district. The reason: existing gaushalas are overcrowded. “The administration is exploring plans to integrate gaushalas with Delhi’s ridge and forest areas, allowing cattle to inhabit a more natural environment,” Gupta said. Allowing domestic animals to roam within forest ecosystems runs against ecological wisdom. Kandhari dismissed the proposal bluntly, calling it “nonsense”. “With leopards present, what are you going to do: feed them [the cows]? How do such ideas even emerge? It’s utterly absurd,” she said.

Fundamentally flawed

The alteration of vegetation that the project will bring about poses a threat to the already fragile ecology of the ridge. Experts have flagged the growing trend of introducing exotic, non-native plant species, which often prove to be detrimental to the health of forest patches. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior environmentalist who has worked with the State government, emphasised the need to protect and restore the ridge immediately: “Ecological restoration rests on a couple of fundamental premises. The first is that you eliminate all exotic, invasive species. That is not happening; the argument offered is that removing trees like the vilayati kikar [Neltuma juliflora], an invasive species, would leave the ridge exposed, almost barren. Yet the Forest Research Institute, in its working plan, has clearly stipulated that the vilayati kikar must be phased out over a 10-year period.”

Experts have further pointed out that a substantial stretch of forest land is being diverted for the implementation of the Ek Pedh Maa ke Naam scheme, under which approximately 30-40 acres have been cleared to introduce seven or eight species, of which only four are native.

The senior environmentalist said: “The ridge has thin soil and a largely rocky substratum. The only plants that can survive there are those finely adapted—indeed, naturally adapted—to this soil profile, this moisture regime, and this climate. Ever since 1912, when afforestation efforts first began in Delhi, whenever non-native species have been introduced and irrigation has been withdrawn, plantations have failed. There is little sense in planting trees that cannot sustain themselves independently. The only viable, sustainable method is to cultivate species that are inherently adapted to the ridge’s exact conditions. That is not being done here. Even the species lists recommended by the Forest Research Institute are, in several respects, fundamentally flawed.”

“The tender document envisages the clearing of over 40,000 square metres of forest land, and authorises mechanised excavation and earthwork.”

What makes the situation critical is the fact that the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL)—apex bodies tasked with independently discharging their mandate to safeguard the country’s most fragile habitats and wildlife—have become increasingly subservient over the years. The Standing Committee of the NBWL has effectively functioned as a clearance house for unviable projects situated within or near protected areas. Between 2014 and 2026, the NBWL approved nearly 97 per cent of the proposals placed before it.

Of the 2,186 projects reviewed during this period, 2,121 were cleared, and only 52 were rejected. Between August 2014 and February 2019, the board sanctioned 682 out of 687 proposals—an approval rate of 99.82 per cent. In 2018, 2021, and 2026, the NBWL maintained a 100 per cent clearance rate.

The NGT’s rulings on appeals against environmental and forest clearances also reveal a pronounced tilt in favour of project proponents in recent years. Between 2020 and 2025, when developers challenged government rejections or cancellations of clearances, they secured relief in nearly 80 per cent of the cases (126 out of 159). This figure rose to 88 per cent in 2024-25.

In contrast, only 20 per cent of the appeals filed by citizens and activists against granted clearances received a favourable intervention between 2020 and 2025. This declined sharply to just 7 per cent between 2024 and 2025.

Illusion of sustainability

The prevailing trend is to reconfigure forest areas for housing and recreational purposes. K.T. Ravindran, former head of urban design at the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, said: “Urban design cannot, and should not, override ecological logic. Ecological logic constitutes the foundation of urban design; the intrinsic nature of a resource must inform the design process. The problem is that the institutional histories of the instruments we rely on—departments of horticulture or forestry—are anchored elsewhere, not in ecology. These are outdated frameworks, ill-equipped to engage with our evolving understanding of ecological systems.”

Ravindran further argued that designed and curated landscapes can never replicate the intricate complexity of a self-evolving forest. “Such curation can, at best, assume a parasitical relationship: one that should remain strictly temporary and refrain from interfering with the forest’s natural regenerative systems.” He pointed out that past proposals concerning the Central Ridge have sought to accommodate housing projects, going against the legal framework governing the maintenance of reserved forests. In December 2023, the RMB approved the construction of a new road and the forest department headquarters within the Central Ridge. The proposal was criticised by the Delhi High Court, which asked whether the board was protecting or “dissolving” the ridge.

“The [downward] trajectory [in forest conservation] is a combined result of institutional inertia and a failure to reform the mechanisms through which forests are managed. The notion of ‘eco parks’ has been repeatedly invoked to mask large-scale ecological damage. Vast tracts are degraded so that smaller parcels can be rebranded as eco parks. It projects an illusion of sustainability while effectively legitimising environmental loss,” Ravindran said.

The Central Ridge functions as one of Delhi’s key green lungs, offering ecological relief to a city struggling with severe air pollution. Environmentalists and conservationists caution against further large-scale development interventions in the area, saying that the Forest Department should keep human interference to a minimum and allow the old forest ecosystem to sustain itself naturally, as it has for centuries.

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