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I
am constantly being taken aback by the number of
born-and-bred, dyed-in-the-wool Delhites I meet, who are
completely blank about Delhi's most prominent, valuable and
beautiful physical feature and capital asset: the Ridge.
To recap then: the Ridge forms the tail end of the Mewat
branch
of the ancient and rugged Aravalli mountains and enters Delhi
from Gurgaon in the south, in the form of a plateau some six
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kilometres
across. One branch turns back on itself while the other bisects the
city in a north-easterly direction tapering off on the west bank of
the Jamuna near Wazirabad.
It has been divided into four zones: the vast Southern Ridge (6200
hectares) lies outside the city limits, the South-Central Ridge (626
hectares), much ravaged by quarrying and construction lies in the
Mehrauli area, the Central or New Delhi Ridge (864 hectares) lies
between Sardar Patel Road and colonies like New Rajinder Nagar, and
the Northern Ridge (87 hectares) that lies like an emerald flinthead
between Delhi University and Civil Lines. It is the latter two that
form the invaluable 'green lungs' of the city. Look out from the
terraces of any of the big hotels on Sardar Patel Road, and you will
be amazed at the extent of the woolly green pelt of forest
stretching before you. And this, smack in middle of the city.
Even more amazing is that this forest is not a gift of God, but
mostly the work of man! Way back, before the rebellion of 1857, the
Ridge comprised hard, rocky country that supported little but the
most thorny scrub foliage. Then, in the torrid summer and monsoon of
1857, the British encamped in the inhospitable gullies of the
Northern Ridge while attempting to retake the city, and succumbed in
large numbers, more to heatstroke, and disease than enemy fire.
Afterwards, they swore to afforest this barren heartless wilderness
and change its face forever, if anything, to protect the new
residential colony of Civil Lines from being blasted by the heat
reflected off the hot rocks of the Ridge. Actually, they were not
quite the first to do so. Some six hundred years previously, the
emperor Feroze Shah Tughlaq, afforested a section of the Northern
Ridge, turning it into a hunting park.
The big drive to afforest the Ridge began in 1912, when Lutyens
arrived to design the new capital. It was a tough call, as the
elements were hostile and the soil was poor, but eventually, with
much tree planting and zealous protection, the great forest did come
up.
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Colourful resident of the Ridge:
Plum headed Parakeet
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The
trees that grew here had to be tough, and several species of
acacia - most prominently
the well-armed babul (Acacia nilotica) fitted the bill best.
Others, like Neem, Flame of the forest, Gulmohar, Laburnum,
Desi Papri, Peepal, did
well too, and today, driving along the Ridge Road beside
Buddha Jayanti Park, is a pleasure at any time of the year,
with some tree species or the other, in brilliant flower.
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This wonderful city forest is naturally a haven for animals and
birds. Sadly, most of the large animals reported from the Ridge in
the 1920s and 1930s have gone including leopard, wild boar, wolf,
blackbuck, and most of the nilgais. Today, you will be lucky to see
a jackal scamper off, or a black-naped hare lollop across a path.
The most common mammals here are of course, the roving bands of
Rhesus macaques, though even these seem to prefer built up,
inhabited areas, to the wild hinterland yonder (because they are
nearly completely dependent on human handouts.)! Happily, bird life
still remains remarkably rich. Around 200 species have been counted
from the Ridge, including breeding residents, winter migrants and
those that drop by on their way to other destinations. Here, you can
catch a glimpse of the glamorous paradise flycatcher and the little
known blue capped rock thrush, as well as meet most of Delhi's
common resident birds - its woodpeckers, barbets, hornbills, owls,
parakeets, babblers, bulbuls, and prinias, et al.
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Colourful resident of the Ridge:
Jungle babbler
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Not
much is known about the wealth of 'lesser' life - reptiles,
amphibians and insects that the Ridge supports. There
certainly are lizards and snakes, though, they tend to keep a
low profile. In the monsoons, great orchestras of raincoat
yellow bullfrogs will serenade you from impromptu ponds and
pools, then vanish without a trace. A study in the 1960s
indicated at least 70 species of butterflies from the Ridge.
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Modern Delhites have not treated the Ridge very kindly. Some
estimates suggest that up to 40 per cent of the Ridge has already
been destroyed. People, both in and out of the Government, have used
the Ridge like it was their own private property - encroaching and
building on it in the most malignant manner possible. Everything,
from schools, temples and farmhouses to satellite tracking stations
and open- air auditoria have come up on what was meant to be left to
nature.
But happily, the Ridge has its protectors too: back in the 1970s, a
group of students squatted in front of government bulldozers to
prevent them from illegally destroying what they were meant to be
protecting. A few years ago, the Supreme Court ordered that all
encroachments on the Ridge be removed, a very welcome move. Till
1998, some 60 per cent had been.
For the capital's citizens the Ridge is invaluable. It works like a
gigantic central air-conditioning and air purifying plant bringing
down temperatures and removing noxious gases from the air. Drive
along the Ridge in peak summer and you can feel the perceptible drop
in temperature (or check your car's temperature gauge!). It is a
place you can go to walk, meditate, jog, and exercise, nature
ramble, and bird watch, hold hands or just stand and stare. Ten
minutes driving from Connaught Place can see you surrounded by
greenery, listening to a classical flute concert by a magpie robin.
As ahead of you on the path, a covey of sprightly grey partridge,
look back and trundle on, quite obviously giving you the come
hither…What choice do you have?
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