New Delhi: The Delhi Tree Authority (DTA) has proposed real-time monitoring of the capital’s trees and green cover through drone surveys and has written to the Forest Survey of India to explore the exercise.
In a meeting held in January, the minutes of which were made available online on the forest department’s website recently, the DTA noted that the budget for a tree census was revised by the Forest Research Institute (FRI) from ₹50 lakh to ₹3.9 crore.
The authority has asked the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to release the first instalment of ₹2.9 crore for phase-1 of the census, according to minutes dated February 17.
“FRI was appointed to conduct the census in compliance with Supreme Court directions. The exercise will be guided by three experts: Ishwar Singh (retd IFS officer), Sunil Limaye (retd IFS officer) and Pradip Krishen (ecological gardener),” the minutes noted.
The revised budget includes ₹2.9 crore for phase I, ₹32.5 lakh for phase II, ₹15 lakh towards contingency and ₹51.4 lakh as institutional charges. Officials said letters were sent last year to the National Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) seeking release of the first instalment based on the revised estimate.
“After due deliberation, it was directed that a reminder letter, along with the revised budget,should be forwarded to National CAMPA and MoEF&CC for the fortnightly release of the first instalment, and that the matter listed before the Supreme Court be duly followed up,” the minutes stated.
A tree census records the number of trees in an area along with their species, age, health and condition, helping authorities plan plantation drives, identify gaps in green cover and prioritise conservation measures.
While the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, some resident welfare associations and NGOs have conducted limited surveys in select neighbourhoods, Delhi has never undertaken a comprehensive citywide tree census.
The proposal for such a census was approved by the Tree Authority in 2023, but the exercise is yet to begin.
The authority was also informed that the forest department has approached the Survey of India to collaborate on periodic drone-based surveys for real-time monitoring of plantations and detection of tree-related offences.
“The mechanism for collaboration is underway. It was decided that the matter be expedited,” the minutes read.
