The rocky outcrop of Aravali hills in Delhi: how the Ridge is notified and split

Background

Delhi has 85 sq. km of recorded forest, which the forest department puts at 5.73% of the geographic area. Reserved and Protected Forests account for 91.76% and 8.24% of that forest area. Ridge, the rocky outcrop of Aravali hills in Delhi, was notified as Reserved Forest under Section 4 of the Indian Forest Act, 1927, and the department still lists it under Proposed Reserved Forests, because the final notification under Section 20 awaits the settlement of rights, claims and objections. The Ridge comes in four parts, the Northern, the Central, the South-Central and the Southern. Northern Ridge, of 87 ha, lies near Delhi University and is held by several agencies at once. Central Ridge has 864 ha, and the South-Central Ridge 626 ha. Southern Ridge is by far the largest, at about 6200 ha, much of it village common land handed over for afforestation. Supreme Court orders in a writ petition have directed that the ridge be kept in its pristine glory.