Delhi will soon get another forest

As part of its "Green Delhi" drive, Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit formally inaugurated a new city forest to come up at Chhawla village on the bank of Najafgarh drain in southwest Delhi on Saturday. On the occasion, over 160 children went about planting 1,000-odd saplings in the designated space. Some 12,000 more saplings are to be planted at the site over the next few weeks.
In all, the Delhi government plans to set up nine forests in different parts of the city during the drive.
Speaking on the occasion, Ms Dikshit said that Delhi was one of the greenest capitals in the world. Delhi would soon have 32 city forests, she said. Nine of them were set up last year whereas 14 were in existence before that. With this, Delhi’s green cover would go up beyond 20 per cent of its total area, she said.
Chhawla city forest is being developed on a 12-hectare piece of land which belonged to the department of irrigation and flood control.
This has now been handed over to the department of environment which has constructed a boundary wall around the land.
The location was chosen keeping in view the need for urban recreation and quality green spaces in the city from the point of view of the environment.
It would also act as potential habitat for resident and migratory wildlife in urban and nearby areas. Among tree species that will find a home at the new forest are neem, jamun, arjun, kajalia, amaltas, shisham, begonia, bakain etc.