Delhi Ridge Invaded

 INTRODUCTION

On a sunny morning in December, a peacock scans the clouds from its vantage point on a tree while an owl hunts for game amongst the thick, thorny shrubs. The ground is bright rust and the earth wet. The Delhi Ridge plays host to many such magical moments, when nature astonishes with its simple beauty.

Part of the Aravalli range, the ridge is the only one of its kind in the country’s metros, a Delhi icon that is as much a part of the capital’s heritage as the imposing façade of Rashtrapati Bhavan or the gracious sandstone arch of India Gate. A swathe of green on higher ground, the ridge soothes the hot winds from the deserts of neighbouring Rajasthan before they reach the city and stashes away welcome raindrops to boost dipping groundwater levels[1]. But over the years, much of the ridge has disappeared under the brick and mortar that now define most Indian cities. The most recent threat has come from swanky hotels and malls. A multi-stakeholder board, Ridge Management Board is supposed to protect the ridge, but is fraught with conflicts of interest.

The awareness to conserve and protect the ridge has been there even in the Sultanate period. In 14^th century, afforestation was done on the ridge by Emperor Firoz Tughlaq[2]. During British period, in 1913, part of the ridge was declared as Reserve Forest under Indian Forest Act, 1878[3]. Large swathes of the Ridge were lost, beginning in the second half of the 19^th century when precincts such as Paharganj and Paharipur – whose names recall their hilly character – were levelled. But the great dismantling of the Ridge took place after independence, especial since the 1970s, as the population swelled and new suburbs pushed south of the new capital city.[4]

 High plateaux and heavily forested Aravalli separates the block from the Indo-Gangetic plains[5]. Delhi’s ‘ridge,’ elevated and rocky landform is the tail end of the 1500 years old Aravalli hills. These hills stretch 800 kilometres from Gujarat through Rajasthan and Haryana, pushing into Delhi from the south-west[6]. Here, one branch bends eastwards to create the broken spurs and ravines of Tughlakabad, Jaunapur and bhatti. The main spine of low hills continues in a north-easterly axis through Mehrauli and Vasant Vihar into Chanakyapur. Just short of Sadar Bazar, the hills disappear only to surface again near the Barafkhana, where the road steeply climbs past the Mutiny Memorial to Hindu Rao Hospital.

 Today, for administrative purposes, Ridge is divided into four zones: South-Central, Central, North and South. The old or the Northern ridge denotes the hilly area near Delhi University and is by far the smallest segment of the ridge[7]. Nearly 170 hectares were declared a reserve forest in 1915. Less than 87 hectares remains today. The new or central Ridge was made into a reserve forest in 1914 and stretches from south of Sadar Bazar to Dhaula Kuan. It extends over 864 hectares, but some bits have been nibbled away. The sourthern ridge sprawls across 6200 hectares and includes the Asola and Bhatti wildlife sanctuaries. A lot of it is village or privately owned land. Even these pockets are under assault: debris is dumped in many parts and illegal constructions are commonplace. A worst-case scenario is already on display in the South-Central Ridge, encompassing 633 hectares, where swanky hotels and malls are slowly but surely replacing trees.

Among the Capitals, Delhi hosts the largest number of resident and migratory birds after Nairobi due to a confluence of three different habitats – the Aravalli belt, northern scrub forest and the Gangetic plane which attracts the aquatic habitat. This diversity helps in attracting birds.[8] However, altered land use pattern of Delhi Ridge has led to disappearance, displacement or dispersal of many species. In 1940 there were 300 species of birds in Delhi but by 1990s the number had gone down to 200[9]. Among mammals, fox, hare, pig, blackbuck, chinkara, jackal, nilgai, hogdeer, laeopard cat, wolf, hyena, porcupine, cheetal and wild boar were present in the Ridge about a century back, but today higher mammals have almost vanished.

In terms of flora, the green lung of Delhi, recently threw up a pleasant surprise. In what was described as a remarkable discovery, researchers located 37 plant species never before reported from the city. The good old Delhi Ridge currently has over 120 species of plants and serves as a sink for many pollutants, air purifier and supplier of oxygen.[10] In spite of this, Ridge has been waging a battle against Prosopis Juliflora, a weed colonising the native vegetation.

With Delhi’s rapid growth and development, land sharks have been making efforts to eat into this green lung on one hand. On the other, concerned citizens with the support of judiciary have been effective in keeping concrete monsters at bay. And all this while, the Ridge quietly went on working alongside – air conditioning in summer, oxygenating, absorbing exhaust, buffering noise, harbouring hundreds of species of flora and fauna, and providing a haven to thousands of city worn visitors.

Commercialisation spree

In autumn of 2003, an unexpected animal – a bulldozer – was busy clearing trees and excavating to construct swanky shopping malls, expected to be the biggest shopping hubs in Delhi. One of the malls will be the largest mall in Asia and 4th largest in the world^[11]. A powerful commercial lobby has been able to get authorities to bend rules in favour of development on this 640 hectares on the South Central Ridge, surrounded by Vasant Vihar, Vasant Kunj, Mahipalpur and National Highway 8. Hotels and Malls are slowly but surely replacing trees on this otherwise undisturbed tract of Delhi Ridge.

In 1996 Geographical survey of India (GSI) identified the whole 640 hectares as part of Delhi ridge[12]. Later on Forest department and Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) identified this area as forest and water recharging area respectively[13]. The report of the GSI clearly states that the area in question is Aravali ridge. The Aravalis are also protected by the 1994 Aravali Fragile Area Notification[14]. The major protests by citizens groups and environmentalists, spearheaded by Ridge Bachao Andolan and Citizens for the Preservation of the Quaries and Lakes wilderness (CPQLW), are with regard to a patch of 92 hectares, on 315 hectares under DDA, allotted for the construction of malls and institutions.

This area includes Residential area of 15 hectares, which consists of Hill View Apartments and Kusumpur Village, 24 hectares on which School of Planning and Architecture and National Book Trust are to build and 25 hecatares for shopping malls and Grand hotel leaving rest as Green buffer zone and Transportation area. Today heavy construction is on at 92 hectares of this land and the other 223 is being developed (amidst protest by environmentalists) as a bio-diversity park[15].

In addition, a surprising offender in the area has been the Army, which has been constructing residential quarters on the 325 hectares it owns since 70’s. But since late nineties the army has carried out construction activity at a rapid pace and more so in the last couple of years[16].

The DDA has consistently insisted that the area where the malls are coming up cannot be considered a art of the ridge but just “rocky land”at all — though its own Draft Masterplan for Delhi-2021 alludes to the drastic reduction in groundwater potential in these parts. In its affidavit before the Supreme Court in July 2004 and again in February 2005, the DDA stated that the land was just “rocky land” and merely a “land classification” which did not indicate the “land use.”

 While 7777 hectares of the ridge zones are notified forest areas (a notification declaring an area as a forest is issued by the central government in conjunction with the state government) by the Loveraj Kumar Committee in 1994, parts of what has been traditionally considered as the ridge such as this 640 hectares in Vasant Kunj have been excluded from its ambit. According to the EPCA, for some inexplicable reason, not to do with the court’s orders, many unbuilt portions of ridge were left out of the notification. Afterwards, a member of the committee records in the CEC report (2004) that the DDA deliberately misled the court by calling it a development area so it could better preserve it. This is one such pristine portion.

The attempt to commerialise this area began in 1996, when the DDA announced, in the newspaper, a gigantic International Hotels Complex (IHC) of 13 luxury hotels in this same ridge forest area. CPQLW filed a PIL in SC against building the Int. Hotels Complex and on 13 Sept.1996 SC stayed the project and directed the Central Government to constitute an Environmental Impact Assessment Authority- (EIAA) to look into the Environmental aspects of this project. The EIAA commissioned the Geological Survey of India (GSI) to demarcate the ridge, which found that the entire 315 hectares to be Aravali Ridge. In January 1997, EIAA stopped all construction activity in the area. However, the dissolution of IEAA later on by the Central Government on the plea that it was just an adhoc committee proved detrimental to the cause of saving this part of the ridge. After which the EIAA was dismantled and its functions were ceded to the newly notified Environment (Prevention & Control) Authority (EPCA) for NCR or the Bhure Lal Committee of Supreme Court. As it happened the Grand Hyatt went to court and the apex court later allowed construction in 92 hectares of the area held by the DDA but subject to all environmental laws and clearances In august 1997. Even though, the EPCA observed, “the said area of 315 hectares would stand classified as forest irrespective of whether it is outside or within the notified forest area.”

Its conservation status was reinforced by the CEC report in which the Army has deposed that it will not build more than 4% of the area and preserve the area as reserved forest. However, the present Army constructions, which started after July 2004 have destroyed a huge portion of the forest. The Army stated that the disputed area was theirs and categorised as A-1 which was needed to rehabilitate those who had fought in the Kargil War. A look from google world shows that clearly. CEC directed that no construction or cutting of trees take place in March 2004 CEC recommended that the area should be declared Reserve Forest or National Park in July 2004. Army has violated both and though it said that finally it would build a maximum 19% and maintain the rest as res. forest it has been building constantly much more. Its construction has been found illegal for lack of mandatory environment clearances[17].

According to the CGWB reports, the ridge area acts as a single aquifer system and is continuous with the aquifer systems of the surrounding areas. Also the recharge of fresh water in the ridge area is stopping the movement of saline front from Pappan Kalaan towards the ridge area and pushing the fresh/saline water interface to deeper levels. The report noted, “Development activities in the areas extending from Mehrauli to Masudpur and north to Vasant Vihar may adversely affect the groundwater regime.” Referring to the acute water problem in these parts, where residents are increasingly becoming dependent on tankers for water supply at all times of the year, a report of the Central Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court on the South-Central Ridge concurred, “…This portion of the ridge, which has been identified as an area critical for recharging groundwater, should be strictly protected and declared as a no-construction zone and reserved forest.” The total groundwater recharge amounts to 150 million cubic metres per year but private withdrawal of water is three times the replenished, according to a study by INTACH[18].

A report on the area carried out by the Deputy Conservator of Forest (DCF), DC Khanduri in 1996 clearly identifies the area as geographically being an extension of the Aravalli Ridge with dense growth of forest trees. Here some erstwhile mining pits have developed into excellent water bodies which harbour a number of spices of water birds that include the spot billed duck, the little grebe, moorhens, cormorants and herons. In addition peacock, partridge, quail, spotted owlet, horned owl, flycatchers are also found in the area. These water bodies were perennial till 1999 but have dried since. A result of the construction activity going around, allege environmentalists. The area ahas 14 water bodies – protected by Government notification – all have gone dry due to the illegal extraction of water by the Grand Hotel, Army and the DDA environmentalists from Ridge Bachao Andolan and CPLQW allege.

Besides, in its 1962 and 2001 Master Plan DDA has earmarked the area as ridge area. The ridge according to MPD 1962 and MPD 2001 “the ridge must be conserved with utmost care and should be afforested with indigenous species with minimum of artificial landscape.” The partial notification of the ridge as Reserved forest in 1994 has resulted in a completely falsified demarcation of the Ridge in the Masterplan also. In 2001 Masterplan DDA excluded the same 640 hectares of the ridge ratified by the Geological Survey of India. While all the Master Plans have stated that ‘the Ridge must be maintained in its pristine glory and no further infringements are permitted.’

The draft Delhi Masterplan 2021 as well does not include the 650 hectares as ridge but mentions only 7,777 hectares as the notified Ridge. Through it all, the DDA has been steadfastly insisting that the area where the malls are coming up cannot be considered a part of the ridge at all — though its own Draft Masterplan for Delhi-2021 alludes to the drastic reduction in groundwater potential in these parts.

Sadly, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF), Central and Delhi Govt. and the Judiciary have not done much to enforce the ‘No Construction’ orders. The Supreme Court has yet to stay these constructions despite its own CEC clearly directed “No Construction’, in March 2004, for this ridge.

On one hand, environmentalists and urban planners warn that the mall projects signal a potentially disastrous situation, since it’s a drainage area, without trees water will not remain for long. Residents and local NGOs have even alleged that after the construction frenzy began, the small water bodies that used to exist at one time have all dried up. The DDA’s only contribution to protecting the South-Central Ridge has been to plant saplings in a corner the authority has designated as a biodiversity park.

Green ‘colonisation’ on the Ridge

The already abused Ridge has also been putting up a stiff fight to remain green as its trouble has increased manifolds with the native and exotic weeds invading its space. Scientists are fighting an unsung battle against an evasive plant prosopis juliflora (PJ).

A report by Nairobi based English daily The Nation[19] said Kenyan National Environment management wes up in arms against the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the UNO for introducing prosopis juliflora, but not owning the responsibility for damages it had caused. Similar reactions have also been heard from the Ethiopia, where the weed has been branded as a Devil Tree, causing deserts and famine like situations[20].

A joint venture of Centre for Environmental Management of Degraded Ecosystems (CEMDE), Delhi University (DU) and Delhi Development Authority (DDA), a project aimed at establishing an “Aravalli Bio-Diversity Park” where the original forest eco-systems that used to exist about 100 years ago on the Ridge can be recreated and sustained all over the ridge.

According to CEMDE, whole of Delhi Ridge just consists of monoculture of Prosopis juliflora, which is a massive botanical disaster still continuing from the Raj’s days. DU scientists claim that this weed has strong stem, sucks nutrients from aquifers, removes sub-soil moisture killing native plant species, has inflammable leaves which don’t decompose, nor has a canopy to protect grounds from scorch of sun. Its roots stretch upto a depth of 21 metres below the surface and suck out water at an ever-increasing rate and does not allow the recharging of ground water, being the major cause behind the water scarcity of Delhi. Scientists argue that the British went on a tree plantation drive after shifting the imperial capital to Delhi. Since they wanted more trees, and wanted them to grow fast, they planted trees like ‘Vilayati Kikar,’ or prospis juliflora, a Mexican weed, and Eucalyptus[21].

One of Delhi’s principal trees that made its entry through the afforestation work done by the British was vilayati keekar which has become a ubiquitous, invasive tree throughout Delhi, aggressively colonizing any patch of bare land. Within a few decades vilayati keekar dominates Delhi’s tree flora and has become the principal cause for a number of species on the ridge edging towards local extinction.[22]

Pradip Krishen in his illustrious Trees of Delhi supports CEMDE’s standpoint. He cites that plans for afforesting the ridge were set in motion by PH Clutteruck, Conservator of Forests in the United Provinces in 1912, He recommended ever green species, which was an ecological miscalculation for the most arid habitat in Delhi. Besides, allowing this specie to grow will flout the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) rules, to which India is a signatory. The Prosopis Juliflora now features in the IUCN’s new list of 100 world’s worst invasive alien species. A survey[23] recently accomplished that the weed has displaced native vegetation and degraded wildlife habitat due to its toxic leaves. Scientists at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute and School of Environmental Sciences have also held that Infestation of the weed-like Prosopis Juliflora, in the ridge is not only making the area nutrient deficient, but also enhancing stress on soil moisture and faunal distribution besides acting as a trigger for asthmatics[24].

Studies have also revealed that Delhi’s rising green cover was behind several respiratory disorders, bronchial allergies, being reported in the city[25].

The foundation stone of Aravalli Biodiversity Park was laid on 22^nd February 2004. Since then the park has been embroiled in a controversy after residents and NGOs filed complaints with the Supreme Court Empowered Committee claiming that the development of the Park was in violation of the designated green area.

DDA and CEMDE’s aim to nurture thousands of species and biotic communities in the park, between Vasant Vihar and Vasnat Kunj, has raised serious doubts among the concerned residents about the authenticity’s intentions. So much so that a PIL has been filed in the SC asking for the whole stretch to be declared a reserve forest. Not withstanding the doubts, people from the DDA and CEMDE, the two agencies involved in the project have big plans.  The Aravalli Biodiversity Park will serve as a major site for water harvesting in order to restore and revitalise the Delhi ridge. It is proposed to develop some of the large mined out pits into water bodies by diverting the excess storm and rainwater to these pits. As a result the park will have 3-4 large perennial water bodies that will lead to recharging of ground water by reactivating some of the dead aquifers. The park will also have a rock garden, a butterfly park and a safari park[26] and sustain black buck, Indian bustard, chitals populations[27].

Environmentalist had questioned and written to the Vice-Chancellor asking him about the feasibility of building the Bio-Diversity Park. Coming out in defence of its ambitious Bio-Diversity Park project, DU has maintained that the venture “is not aimed at just creating an artificial park in the conventional sense but at restoring and building a self-sustaining eco-system”[28].

CEMDE biologists and botanists are awaiting Supreme Court ruling on a presentation how the weed caused devastation in the Delhi green areas and pushed border regions to the preliminary stage of desertification. On a recent PIL by a few citzens at Vasant Kunj and a local NGO challenging the CEMDE decision to fell the weed at the park, the court about two months back had asked the DDA to file an affidavit explaining why the weed needed to be felled at the Aravali Biodiversioty Park.

Professor, Vikram Soni, a resident of Vasant Vihar who has a citizen group called Citizens for the Preservation of the Quaries and Lakes wilderness (CPQLW) has been fighting to save the ridge says “According to the MPD, this area is a pristine forest and should be preserved as such. We do not want any human interference here and that too with DDA backing. If left alone with only protective forest department the forest will replenish itself.” It is another way of land grabbing by DDA like building malls and hotels, allege citizen groups[29].

Ridge Violated

Look either way and dhabas dot the peripheries; people are digging into Indian Chinese and hot parathas. Their plates are washed inside the forest area and the disposable bottles and cups find their way into small, dying water bodies…And this is considered one of the more well-preserved Ridge areas. DDA calls it ‘Sanjay Van’.

Malba, bricks and small garbage dumps dot the landscape. The water bodies are littered with plastic bags. It gets slightly better as you go further in, and the flora and fauna get a chance to breathe. Well-paved paths take you through several natural habitats, old dried-up wells and small, abandoned hutments. There’s DDA’s ‘chowkidaar hut’, but it is unoccupied. Despite restrictions, scooters and motorcycles routinely take a short cut through the area. Deep within the forest, the ground shows signs of old fires.

The green lungs of the Capital resemble more of commercial parkland than a reserved forest with several broad paths, illegal constructions and no patrolling in the central ridge has noted the Ridge Management Board (RMB) in its occasional inspection reports.

Delhi High Court took serious view of the abuse of the notified Central Ridge and directed the DDA to ensure that “the Ridge is maintained as Ridge only” in 2004. The court, then acknowledged that several paths and even a cremation ground had been constructed in the notified area of the Central Ridge by DDA. The court said it was appalled to note that even a water body had been covered up and a path constructed over it. Chief Justice B.C. Patel and Justice B.D. Ahmed directed the DDA that all paths — two kuchcha and one cemented — were to be turned into a green area. Observing that the area ‘‘must be maintained as a forest’’, the court ordered the cremation sheds to be demolished and the water body to be restored.

Two other kuchcha paths — 2.5 metres to 3 metres wide — had been made ‘‘obviously by first cutting down trees…’’ advocate Raj Panjwani, amicus curiae in this case, had pointed out that the kuccha path led to the R-block park in Rajinder Nagar, questioning how a park could come up in the first place[30]. Strange as it may sound, R-Block Rajinder Nagar Park “encroaches” on the Ridge Area. Ridge Management Board later “discovered” that apart from all the utilities of a park, like benches and paths, a DDA office was also located in the park[31]. Ridge Management Board’s member Ravi Aggarwal claimed that the undeclared park had a jungle gym, slides benches and even lights and there is no clear demarcation between the park and the forest area[32].

The court also took note of the fact that debris was being regularly dumped there. All bricks and debris must be removed, the court said. 5,000 metric tonnes of Debris, brought into the area from the nearby Karol Bagh and Patel Nagar, where large scale construction[33] was going on was reported to be dumped on the Central Ridge. The DDA lobbied to let it remain there since it claimed it was several thousand truckloads. The DDA also claimed that though the portion of the Ridge is under its control, the Authority was not responsible for its dumping.

Further, a massive construction exercise at the Mahavir Jayanti Park was reported in the same year. This included the construction of a tiled parking lot, toilet complexes and a pucca tiled working track. The Central Public Works Department (CPWD), the authority in command of the land said that the construction was done under the instructions of the then Urban Development Minister, Mr Jagmohan, and it was necessary for a big Jain Convention which was to be held later that year, in 2003. The CPWD was asked to present fresh plans but the existing construction, which had already taken place, was left alone[34].

An added violation of forest act is a polo ground, which was believed to be shut, is in fact carrying on and horse-riding tracks have made way throughout the Ridge area. The Forest Department, itself had cleared the Polo Ground for continuation. RMB claims that several such clearances have been given by FSO which the Forest Department claims no knowledge of[35].

Similar abuse of the ridge has been noted in Sanjay Van – 626 hectares of forest that forms the densest part of the Capital’s Ridge area – in the Southern Ridge. Survey conducted by the Ridge Management Board[36] in Sanjay Van. From illegal roads, parking lots and over 15 ‘‘temples’’ to even a shed that, RMB officials said, was owned by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), which is solely responsible for maintaining Sanjay Van.

Brilliantly located Asaram Bapu’s ashram with police officials as security guards nestles among the dry forests of the central ridge while the case against this ridge road ashram is in the court. This encroached land belongs to forest department. Step inside and you might even see a peacock or two strutting about.

Buddha Jayanti Park, Mahavir Park, parts of Sanjay Van, and Rabindra Rangshala are some other examples of Ridge forest land giving way to recreational areas.

Conclusion

The Ridge Management Board, a seven-member non-statutory body set up in 1995 consisting of representatives from the government, DDA and non-government organisations, supposed to protect the ridge, has been unable to prevent the construction frenzy. The board, headed by the Chief Secretary of Delhi, has been under “tremendous pressure to deal with land issues”, said environmentalist Ravi Agarwal, director of NGO Toxics Link and a member of the board. Most of the violations have been carried out by government bodies such as the DDA — whose vice-chairperson, incidentally, is also a member of the board — making it even more difficult for the board to take action. “Theoretically, we have all the powers, and the board is effective to a point. But how do you punish a body such as the DDA?” said he[37].

This speaks volumes about how the state machinery employs a range of regulatory instruments to preserve and protect its natural resources. As a system for doing so, the law has been working badly. The legislature is quick to enact laws regulating most aspects of industrial and development activity but is chary to require effective implementation. Government agencies like MOEF wield vast power to regulate the Forest area but are reluctant to use their power to discipline violators. The judiciary, a spectator to environmental despoliation for more than two decades[38], has though assumed the pro-active role at times but in the larger issue of Urban Biodiversity it advocated development for environment.

The flurry of legislation, lax enforcement, different levels of bureaucracy and assertive judicial oversight have combined to create a unique implementation dichotomy: one limb represented by the hamstrung formal regulatory machinery comprised of the forest bureaucracies and state agencies like the DDA and the other, consisting of a non-formal, ad hoc citizen and court-driven implementation mechanism. The movement to protect the Ridge is largely the story of India’s judiciary responding to the complaints of its citizens against environmental degradation and administrative sloth.

The ‘biotic’ pressure on urban forests stems from the city dweller, in their multifarious needs of modern, urban sophistication in which they are ensnared. The urban population is bound to pay the price. Water economics of Delhi is reflecting that in ever growing problem of water in the posh colonies.

The contention here is not that non forest activity on forest lands by powerful vested interests is a serious issue and must be dealt with by the state agencies. Also the real forest destroyers are industrial and urban encroachers, and of course ‘legalised’ destroyers in the name of development projects. Remarkably, the Courts have overlooked all these dimensions governed by a vision of ‘forests’ existing in isolation and out of context. The court’s definition of ‘forest’ itself, and the assumption that forests are best managed by state bureaucracies, is highly problematic given the long history of forest degradation under state control and serious conflicts with forest dwelling tribal and other communities due to their being denied customary access to forest resources for survival[39].

Recently, the Supreme Court lamented:

‘If the mere enactment of laws relating to the protection of environment was to ensure a clean and pollution free environment, then India would, perhaps, be the least polluted country in the world. But, this is not so. There are stated to be over 200 central and state statutes which have at least some concern with environmental protection, either directly or indirectly. The plethora of such enactments has, unfortunately, not resulted in preventing environmental degradation which, on the contrary, has increased over the years.[40]’

Although courts are ill-equipped to take over enforcement functions, the dismal performance of government agencies has compelled the higher judiciary to secure compliance through public interest litigations. The lack of co-ordination between multiple agencies and lack of political will have contributed to the fast deterioration of this urban biodiversity.

Bibliography

 

v    Trees of Delhi: A Field Guide by Pradip Krishen (Dorling Kindersley India)

v    Illustrations to the Flora of Delhi by JK Maheshwari (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research)

v    The Highlands of India by D. J. F Newall (London, I882)

v    Loveraj committee report(1993)

v    Fauna of Delhi (Zoological Survey of India)

v    www.indianrealtynews.com

v    Environment (Prevention & Control) Authority report(2000)

v    Centrally Empowered Committee Report(2004)

v    Economic and Political Weekly

v    Times News Network

v    Geography and You

v    The Hindu

v    www.toxicslink.org

v    Indian Express

v    www.Indiatogether.com

v    Seminar

---

[1] Flora of Delhi by JK Maheshwari

[2] Zoological Survey of India’s Fauna of Delhi

[3] Ibid

[4] Trees of Delhi by Pradip Krishen

[5] The Highlands of India by D. J. F Newall

[6] Zoological Survey of India’s Fauna of Delhi

[7] Loveraj committee report(1993)

[8] Zoological Survey of India’s Fauna of Delhi

[9] Ibid

[10] Forest Research Institute’s Vegetation Survey and Inventorisation

[11] http://www.indianrealtynews.com/indian-states/delhi/vasant-kunj/

[12] Environment (Prevention & Control) Authority report(2000) and Centrally Empowered Committee Report(2004)

[13] Ibid

[14] Ibid

[15] Centrally Empowered Committee Report(2004)

[16] Ibid

[17] MOEF expert committee report (2006)

[18] EPW Water and Carrying capacity of a city: Delhi November 8  2003.

 

[19] Indian Express May 20, 2007

[20] Times News Network May 26, 2005

[21] Based on interview with Prof C R Babu, director, CEMDE, Faiyaz A Khudsar,  wildlife expert associated with CEMDE and M Shah Hussain, Aravalli Biodiversity Park scientist incharge

[22] Trees of Delhi by Pradip Krishen

[23] Journal: Geography and You July- August 2007

[24] Ibid

[25] Study called “Human Sensitisation to Prosopis Juliflora Antigen in Saudi Arabia” conducted by a group of professors reported by The Hindu – May 01, 2007

[26] The Hindu April 30, 2006

[27] Interview with Vilas Gokte, consultant of the park

[28] The Hindu August 2, 2006

[29] Vasant Vihar RWA and activists with Ridge Bachao Andolan

[30] Indian Express 16th July 2004

[31] Indian Express Sep 20, 2004

[32] Ibid

[33] The Hindu -30 April 2004

[34]Illegal constructions in the Ridge area – toxicslink.org, by Ravi Agarwal 07 July 2004

[35]Ridge inspection unearths more irregularities By Ravi Agarwal – toxicslink.org, 07 July 2004

[36] Indian Express 27 December 2005

[37]  Indiatogether.com Malls trampling Delhi’s green belt 19 August 2005

[38] Seminar Legislative framework and judicial craftsmanship 25 June 2001

[39] Seminar Who is encroaching on whose land? Wednesday, 30 October 2002,

 

[40] Seminar Legislative framework and judicial craftsmanship Monday, 25 June 2001

 

 

Loss of aura in the age of “digital” reproduction

The construction and reconstruction of film has led to decline of aura by taking away the freshness and rawness of moments that movie tries to capture. No more can one appreciate the beauty in hum of a four year old when encountering the ‘perfecticised’ and digitized art. For example Facebook probably is the first time ever that one can keep in touch with about every friend on the internet which loses the “aura” again

 

Written in 1936, by German culture critic Walter Benjamin, the essay “the work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction” finds strong parallels in 21^st century

 

with orientation to digital reproduction. The views presented by Walter in the essay appear to have gone a step further from mechanical reproduction of art to digital reproduction in this day and age. The digital experience has propelled the question of reproduction of art beyond the basic continually raised arguments due to the emergence of the world of Internet. Art and information have actively surfaced and have left neither artist nor audience passive scholars anymore. The experience began with enhanced technology that gave more control and dexterity to the artist to wrap his thoughts in the medium of his choice, i.e., written, pictorial, film or sound without imparting it a physical component. It gave all arts an abstract intangible texture which elevates the position of idea to a higher level than its form. Digitisation of technology over the years has given birth to magnificent compositions that we witness as we reminisce about the ancient craft of capturing the beautiful and wonder what the future holds for all of humanity.

 

As Walter articulates in the Preface, “the transformation of the superstructure, which takes place far more slowly than that of the substructure, has taken more than half a century to manifest in all areas of culture the change in the conditions of production.” The medium of art, driven by technology in every age has always affected the expression but in the case of mechanical and digital reproduction age the form has transformed the expression in many ways and manifested itself in the structure of present day art.

 

Talking about authenticity of art, Walter says“Even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be. This unique existence of the work of art determined the history to which it was subject throughout the time of its existence. This includes the changes which it may have suffered in physical condition over the years as well as the various changes in its ownership.” Though Walter puts forth the argument that the importance of art is set in time and space, for a society and audiences of a certain age where and when the work of art holds most significance, in the present age dominated by digital reproduction of art has imparted additional exquisiteness to a work of historical significance. The technology instead of losing the “aura” of the work makes it more fascinating for an audience of dissimilar time and space to appreciate the work. Digital reproduction enables the ‘new’ audience to evaluate the power of the thought to time travel. Interesting example of which is the remake culture in movies. Appreciation of movie constructed again in different era and place grows tremendously today because of is historical aspect because of digital revolution.

Walter later argues “The presence of the original is the prerequisite to the concept of authenticity. Confronted with its manual reproduction, which was usually branded as a forgery, the original preserved all its authority; not so vis-à-vis technical reproduction. The reason is twofold. First, process reproduction is more independent of the original than manual reproduction. Secondly, technical reproduction can put the copy of the original into situations which would be out of reach for the original itself. Above all, it enables the original to meet the beholder halfway, be it in the form of a photograph or a phonograph record. The cathedral leaves its locale to be received in the studio of a lover of art; the choral production, performed in an auditorium or in the open air, resounds in the drawing room.”   

In the digital world, original and authentic have little value and meaning but the notion and perception hold significance for the spectators. For example, web sites like Youtube, news portals and blogs have carved niche audiences for theirselves since the web visitors look for new information, thoughts and ideas no caring about the loss of “aura” and change of form that re-production leads to.

The essay makes a case “One might subsume the eliminated element in the term “aura” and go on to say: that which withers in the age of mechanical reproduction is the aura of the work of art. By making many reproductions it substitutes a plurality of copies for a unique existence. And in permitting the reproduction to meet the beholder or listener in his own particular situation, it reactivates the object reproduced. These two processes lead to a tremendous shattering of tradition which is the obverse of the contemporary crisis and renewal of mankind. Both processes are intimately connected with the contemporary mass movements. The concept of aura which was proposed with reference to historical objects may usefully be illustrated with reference to the aura of natural ones. We define the aura of the latter as the unique phenomenon of a distance, however close it may be. If, while resting on a summer afternoon, you follow with your eyes a mountain range on the horizon or a branch which casts its shadow over you, you experience the aura of those mountains, of that branch. This image makes it easy to comprehend the social bases of the contemporary decay of the aura. It rests on two circumstances, both of which are related to the increasing significance of the masses in contemporary life. Namely, the desire of contemporary masses to bring things “closer” spatially and humanly, which is just as ardent as their bent toward overcoming the uniqueness of every reality by accepting its reproduction. Every day the urge grows stronger to get hold of an object at very close range by way of its likeness, its reproduction. The adjustment of reality to the masses and of the masses to reality is a process of unlimited scope, as much for thinking as for perception.”

The authenticity of art in any form itself lives in its reproduction. The work of art is reproduction of the real. Digital technology has brought the re-reproduction of real very close to the contemporary masses “spatially and humanly.” The movement is carried forward today by internet where every work of art is a click away.

In the debate between photography and painting and if photography is an art, walter refutes“In photography, exhibition value begins to displace cult value all along the line. But cult value does not give way without resistance. It retires into an ultimate retrenchment: the human countenance. It is no accident that the portrait was the focal point of early photography. The cult of remembrance of loved ones, absent or dead, offers a last refuge for the cult value of the picture. For the last time the aura emanates from the early photographs in the fleeting expression of a human face. This is what constitutes their melancholy, incomparable beauty. But as man withdraws from the photographic image, the exhibition value for the first time shows its superiority to the ritual value. To have pinpointed this new stage constitutes the incomparable significance of Atget, who, around 1900, took photographs of deserted Paris streets.”

Though today photography essentially is a medium to express oneself through images. Much like a work of art. But photography, with its inception, is rooted to reality or to the tangible. One cannot capture what does not exist. This intrinsic aspect of photography brings with it some freedom and some restrictions. Art may and often does venture into the fantasy world but it is a realm where photography does not have an access. That is the restrictive element. But photography has its own “aura” because of the fact that we live in a dynamic world where real things are constantly in motion.
Photography uses these freedoms and grapple with the restrictions to come out with a truly telling picture, which though two dimensional, still captures a fleeting emotion, a feeling, an image and a moment in time. Photography is used effectively to give strength to a view or an idea in digital as well as manual form.
 

Another layer of argument in the authenticity of art says“What matters is that the part is acted not for an audience but for a mechanical contrivance – in the case of the sound film, for two of them. “The film actor,” wrote Pirandello, “feels as if in exile – exiled not only from the stage but also from himself. With a vague sense of discomfort he feels inexplicable emptiness: his body loses its corporeality, it evaporates, it is deprived of reality, life, voice, and the noises caused by his moving about, in order to be changed into a mute image, flickering an instant on the screen, then vanishing into silence …. The projector will play with his shadow before the public, and he himself must be content to play before the camera.” This situation might also be characterized as follows: for the first time – and this is the effect of the film – man has to operate with his whole living person, yet forgoing its aura. For aura is tied to his presence; there can be no replica of it. The aura which, on the stage, emanates from Macbeth, cannot be separated for the spectators from that of the actor. However, the singularity of the shot in the studio is that the camera is substituted for the public. Consequently, the aura that envelops the actor vanishes, and with it the aura of the figure he portrays.”

The construction and reconstruction of film has led to decline of aura by taking away the freshness and rawness of moments that movie tries to capture. No more can one appreciate the beauty in hum of a four year old when encountering the ‘perfecticised’ and digitized art. For example Facebook probably is the first time ever that one can keep in touch with about every friend on the internet which loses the “aura” again.

“For centuries a small number of writers were confronted by many thousands of readers. This changed toward the end of the last century. With the increasing extension of the press, which kept placing new political, religious, scientific, professional, and local organs before the readers, an increasing number of readers became writers – at first, occasional ones. It began with the daily press opening to its readers space for “letters to the editor.” And today there is hardly a gainfully employed European who could not, in principle, find an opportunity to publish somewhere or other comments on his work, grievances, documentary reports, or that sort of thing. Thus, the distinction between author and public is about to lose its basic character. The difference becomes merely functional; it may vary from case to case. At any moment the reader is ready to turn into a writer. As expert, which he had to become willy-nilly in an extremely specialized work process, even if only in some minor respect, the reader gains access to authorship. In the Soviet Union work itself is given a voice. To present it verbally is part of a man’s ability to perform the work. Literary license is now founded on polytechnic rather than specialized training and thus becomes common property.”

The constraint that lies in digital reproduction despite its tremendous power is the digital divide which divides the world into two sections – People who have and people who don’t have access to digital/modern information technology. Though digital technology keeps everyone on the same platform, and gives greater power to the audience which is no longer passive and now there is no limitation in the reader and the writer, the access is still limited in todays digital world.

Save tonight

One night spent with Tamil Nadu police patrol team. According to the officials probability of nuisance born of drinking goes up on Saturdays in the first 10 days of every month. The encounters through the night demonstrated how true that was.

The sun sets its last rays. The storekeepers’ pull iron shutters down with a piercing screech, labourers down their tools and those wishing safety scurry towards home. The night wraps the city! It is at this time that a white Hyundai Accent car, identified as ‘wings patrol,’ commences traversing across the streets. The two police officials in the car would pass through these shadowy lanes, over and over again, only to wrap up their tour of duty home when the stores open the next day. They search their way deep into the boulevards of various small and big settlements, sitting opposite the black machine called the Public Address System (PAS), speaking with a commanding voice into the microphone attached to the PAS. They direct the folks out in the night to their homes for the safety of others.  

Last Saturday night, a journey began that involved rides through 5 streets and 2 main roads of St. Thomas Mount – 20 odd times till day break with a sub inspector in his early thirties, dressed in crisp khaki uniform, cap on the head, wireless tucked in the back, Rajesh Khanna. He announced the weekend problem of the police in the area, “men get drunk, indulge in quarrels and pass indecent comments on the women and girls who use the road.” The probability of nuisance born of drinking goes up on Saturdays in the first 10 days of the month, according to the officials. The encounters through the night demonstrated how true that was. 

The car whooshed passed the Drive to the emergency spot. It moved faster than the speed limit through a few narrow lanes. The small shanty houses, where many family members were forced to live, on the sides of the road told tales of urban poverty. On reaching the right street, the officials noticed disturbance in front of a certain house. The car pulled up and two sub inspectors emerged.  

It was not more than 5 minutes back at 11 hours in the night that Sub inspector Rajesh Khanna received secret information that knife was being used in a wrangle between a drunken father and his son. No knife was found but the seriousness of the situation was evident in the commotion and distress it had resulted in for the entire street in a settlement that appeared like a slum.  

There were the aggrieved and few other neighbouring families – crying women, half awaken children and men in the night wear – out on the street. Officials immediately rushed to a middle aged man who was quarrelling with a young boy– on getting directions from the crowd – finding their way through. His drunken state was evident It turned out that this man creates nuisance after getting drunk, often leading to quarrels in the house with his son. Policemen pushed the son into the van. 

Drunken Man’s Daughter crying, pleaded, “Please do not take action against my brother and father.” 

Inspector explained patiently “It is only for your safety.” 

The drunken man shouted “I will kill my sister and my wife.”  

As the shocked members of his family and fellow policemen were watching, Sub Inspector Rajech, slapped the man again. 

The boy was then brought to the police station 

After sitting in the car the sub inspector informs grimly “I respond as soon as possible to my informers’ calls. When I act promptly my informers keep on informing me” and we drove back to the police station. A Red bulb fixed in front of photographs of 5 different Gods ad Goddesses, speaker connected to a radio channel hung outside the lock up that was meant for women but now shifted to the All Women’s police station and names of K.D’s, Suspects and Rowdy’s written on the board showing list of bad characters illustrate the St. Thomas Mount Police Station, which was opened on 25^th October 1929. The inspector in charge informs “the only big crimes, two murder cases, reported were in 2006. Last house theft happened 6 months back. The convict was arrested and the entire property was recovered. Some recent cases of auto drivers’ eve teasing school girls have been reported.” 

Sub Inspector Rajesh, as we begin patrolling, speaks into the microphone, “close the shops, go to your houses.” People watch as the headlights of the vehicles create their shadows and lights on the road, and move. A drunken man stumbles, hits the lamppost and walks away in the narrow lane “that is a drunken case. Scared of the vehicle” laughs out the sub inspector. He gives directions to close shops ranging from small eating joint to big oil shops. It can become a hub of drunkards he says “we don’t allow small shops in the night. They don’t even have the licence for that.” The car crosses through a small street where construction work is going on.  

The Hyundai Accent has, according to him, given patrolling a new look and ensured speed in the area of operation. The police station has been provided with the four-wheel “patrol vehicle” to attend to distress calls with speed and dexterity. The next tier is the “yellow brigade” and “blue brigade” motorcycle patrols, which operate during day and night traversing narrow lanes, he explains. “Accent is an AC vehicle. That’s also a difference” he says as a smile rests on his face. He adds “There was a state government scheme to introduce these cars.”  

Rajesh tells that for the regular patrol purposes no force is required. He doesn’t carry gun most of the times. This Martial arts expert says confidently “99% even rowdies would not attack on police.” The night patrol in charge of that area of the city, through the wireless speaker in the car, instructs to avoid drunken disturbance. Rajesh Khanna points at a place with some lorries parked. One of his mantras to judge someone is simple “I use minimum force on those who try to escape. If anyone tries to escape something is wrong.” He goes on narrate the story of a lorry thief “3 slaps on the spot I gave him when he tried to escape. He was driving a lorry that was not in his name.” After checking a daily wage labourer on a motorcycle says, “in my point of view he is a genuine person” but later at 3:20 am when flashing lights of the car settle on a young drunken man on the street he checks him and takes him to the police station. After which he explains that “cut marks on his hand meant that he could be an ex-convict.” 

His judgement and his duty is imperative for Rajesh who works to make people feel secure, keeps track of every constable deployed in his area of operation till the break of dawn, taking attendance at every point and says, “It is their duty also.”

Horizon, water and sunrise…

Kids and young adults have gathered here for a ‘turtle walk’ along the coastline between Besant Nagar and Neelankarai, where turtle conservation has been going on since the 70s. V. Arun, a member of the Students Sea Turtle Conservation Network (SSTCN), who has been conducting such walks on weekends for more than a decade, explains that Indian coastlines are a fine breading ground for the endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles. “Normally, each turtle chooses a quiet spot on the beach, where it digs a large hole and lays around 70-150 eggs.” But he says “encroaching development and development of cities has taken its toll on these endangered ancient mariners. They are genetically programmed to move towards brighter horizons and all the hatchlings progress landwards due to which they don’t survive.”

An hour before the break of dawn in one corner of the Besant Nagar beach, ping pong ball like eggs fall, one after another, into the funnel shaped nest. Unaffected by the presence of more than 20 people, in sub conscious state she lays eggs. Then she struggles with sand using alternate scoops of her hind flippers to provide a protective cover to her yet to be born young ones. Giving the impression of dancing, she uses her flippers to push sand and drags herself towards the water to never meet her off springs again. The waves wash her face as she reaches the sea.  

On one side, the scout group pokes iron rods to locate the Olive Ridley turtle’s nest and on the other the turtle enters the vast expanse of water. 

Outdoors in the heavy dusk, the air was cool when we began the turtle walk. The trees echoed with birdcalls on seven kilometres of sands girdling the eastern side of the city. Kids and young adults have gathered here for a ‘turtle walk’ along the coastline between Besant Nagar and Neelankarai, where turtle conservation has been going on since the 70s. V. Arun, a member of the Students Sea Turtle Conservation Network (SSTCN), who has been conducting such walks on weekends for more than a decade, explains that Indian coastlines are a fine breading ground for the endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles. “Normally, each turtle chooses a quiet spot on the beach, where it digs a large hole and lays around 70-150 eggs.” But he says “encroaching development and development of cities has taken its toll on these endangered ancient mariners. They are genetically programmed to move towards brighter horizons and all the hatchlings progress landwards due to which they don’t survive.” As the turtles nest when dark, the walks also happen in the night. The eggs are soft when laid and slowly start getting firm in around 5 hours after which the survival rate drops. The purpose of the walk is conservation of the species through relocating eggs in the hatchery within these five hours. Further, each year many species of turtles are injured, maimed or killed by fishing boat propellers, or trapped in fishing nets, informs Arun before the walk begins. 

Not just propellers but climatic changes have also affected the turtle mating season, which might be shifting by a month or so. “We find lessening moisture even in the deeper layers of sand” says Arun squatting on the sand with the first time walkers on a Saturday night.  

Not far from the hatchery we passed the distinct fragments of life of the fishermen as the boats and fishnets line the beach at midnight time. We walked between these boats and the sea where we came across Dead turtles, washed ashore and in distance in the sea we saw some lights, possibly the fishing ships responsible for their death.  

We were also on the watch for the shiny blue algae – ”look for interesting fluorescent planktons near the waters,” had said Arun, who was now walking with the scout in front of us, looking for turtle tracks. Then some kids noticed a flash of light by the waves and were thrilled to hold what they innocently named ‘water firefly’. There scurrying along beside around 20 of us, on the beach were millions of small crabs, scuttling between the waters and the land.  

The deserted sands yawned for miles and were dotted with scallop shells. We walked the shell-strewn beach looking for turtle tracks, something like a tank tread across the sand marking the trail of a female that crept ashore during the night to lay her eggs. After scooping out a depression in the sand with her flippers, a turtle lays up to 150 or so eggs the size of tennis balls, before recovering the nest and returning to the sea, leaving the eggs to hatch by themselves in around 45 days and the tiny hatchlings to make their own hazardous way back to the water. Only one in 1000 eggs produces a turtle that survives to maturity, Arun says. To better the odds, turtle walkers, when they find a crawl and discover a nest, relocate to protect the eggs from predators but allow the babies to crawl through when they hatch. After walking for around a 2 kilometres we saw, what we were fortunate to witness, a nesting turtle. Then a nest that was marked, protected and later relocated. Followed by another nest, in which most eggs were broken predictably because of the jackals from the theosophical society near the beach, Arun says. It’s the third nest not very far away from the hatchery, just a fenced off section of the beach.  

“Who wants to feel the egg?” a school boy in the scout team, counting the eggs as he points at the cotton bag in which he keeps all the eggs, asked a bunch of people around him. A slight dent in the egg tells the tale of its falling into the nest from mother’s womb.  

We stopped to gaze across at the horizon till the sun rose again and dozens of white birds perched on the trees as if painted into a perfect landscape and drew mental picture of these baby turtles, who will be small enough to fit in a matchbox when they hatch, making their way from the nest in the hatchery to their homes in the ocean.