Delhi has no data on number of trees, no census conducted in the last two decades: RTI reply

Times of India: New Delhi: Saturday, 25 July 2020.

No tree census has been conducted in Delhi in the past decade and no data is available on the number of trees in the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) area for the past two decades. This has been revealed in an RTI reply to activist Kanchi Kohli.

Kohli filed an RTI on the tree census carried out from 2010-2020, along with data on tree count conducted in the NDMC area between 2000 and 2020. According to the records maintained by the Delhi forest and wildlife department, no tree census had been conducted during the period.

The activist, who works with Centre for Policy Research (CPR), said, Delhi Tree Authority a statutory body set up under Delhi Preservation of Trees Act, 1992 tasked with preserving and monitoring trees and carrying out census was largely defunct. While its members were supposed to meet every three months, they had met only thrice since 2013.

“Lack of data on the number of trees and species in an area could spell doom for the capital, making it easier for agencies to get the nod to chop trees. A tree census, which should ideally be done annually, seems like a distant dream. Barring a few that were carried out by the citizens, there is no government data available,” Kohli said.

In 2018, local residents and environmental activists had initiated a tree census in Netaji Nagar in seven redevelopment colonies, including mapping native species. In 2012, a census carried out by activist Padmavati Dwivedi in Sarvodaya Enclave was among the first initiatives by local residents. A similar census was conducted at Gulmohar Park and, more recently, at New Friends Colony.

Manju Menon, senior fellow, CPR, said an absence of methodologically rigorous government tree census had left citizens unaware of the “baseline” in terms of the total tree cover and whether or not it was increasing.

“The only recent surveys available are those put together by agencies like NBCC for their redevelopment projects. But these are done for seeking project approvals, so they may be biased. The government should immediately address this gap as it is also a legal requirement,” said Menon.

Meanwhile, for the last two weeks, protests have been ongoing at Dwarka against felling of trees to construct a flyover by National Highway Authority of India. Locals say the green cover in the area is depleting fast, while the compensatory plantation may take years to mature.