New Delhi: The standing committee of Delhi Ridge Management Board, which met for the third time since its formation, has approved two projects — construction of an office building of Directorate General and Central Record Office of ITBP in RK Puram and diversion of extracted water from 18 tubewells to supply potable water to AIIMS-CAPFIMS in Maidan Garhi.The standing committee has also asked Geological Survey of India (GSI) to submit a report on “Delineation and Demarcation of Delhi Ridge for Conservation” on ridge boundaries.The construction of the building for ITBP involves felling 627 trees, transplanting 93 trees and use of 2.5 hectares of deemed forest area. “Since the site falls within a deemed forest area, the user agency has obtained Stage-I in-principle approval for diversion of the said area from the regional office of ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEF&CC) on Dec 11, 2025,” said the standing committee as per its minutes of the meeting dated Sept 10.Approving the project, the standing committee said the user agency will obtain necessary prior permission under Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980 from MoEF&CC for diversion or utilisation of deemed forest area and should strictly comply with the conditions imposed by MoEF&CC.The standing committee also approved the proposal regarding operationalisation of 22 installed tube wells in Maidan Garhi to supply potable water to AIIMS-CAPFIMS by Delhi Jal Board. Out of a total of 22 tubewells, 18 fall in the reserve forest area. Stage I permission for diversion of land from MoEF&CC was received on Aug 15.However, the committee asked DJB to submit an undertaking stating that the operationalisation of all the tubewells is being done exclusively for supplying water to CAPFIMS, and the water shall not be utilised for any other purpose. “No tree felling should be involved in the proposed construction as informed by the user agency,” said the committee.It asked DDA to share additional information regarding the restoration plan for a proposal regarding conservation works of existing historical monument structures at Sanjay Van — Lal Kot Baoli (1,204 sqm), small fortification (700 sqm) and large fortification (1,300 sqm). The conservation work involves felling and transplantation of 15 trees. The committee observed that Sanjay Van being a part of reserved forest, permission for diversion of the said area as per the provisions of Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980 is also a prerequisite.For identification and demarcation of the geomorphological ridge, the standing committee was informed that GSI applied multiple methods for the delineation of the morphological ridge, namely the contour and break-in-slope method, which gives an area of 108.4 sq km, and the topographic position index (TPI) method, which gives an area of 106.2 sq km. The TPI method was given greater significance as it provides statistically more accurate and unbiased results.Morphological ridge areas lie outside the formally notified ridge but share similar geological and topographical characteristics. Such areas are treated as ecologically sensitive and are subject to the same protections as the notified ridge.
