CEC rejects proposal by CAPFIMS to expand campus in parts of Ridge

CEC said that despite an agreement to not expand to the forest area, CAPFIMS drafted a fresh proposal in June 2023, which, if approved, will violate the original proposal

The Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) has rejected a proposal from the Central Armed Police Forces Institute for Medical Sciences (CAPFIMS) to extend its existing campus — in parts of the morphological and Southern Ridges in the Maidangarhi area — by 17.75 acres, according to documents seen by HT.

Trees seen allegedly cut over a stretch near Gaushala Road, Maidan Garhi on July 2. (Sanchit Khanna/HT)

Following an inspection in April, CEC cited that the institute was allotted 33.6 of the 51.4 acre it was demanding in 2016, on condition that it would not expand into the 17.75-acre Ridge.

“From the foregoing, it is abundantly clear that the CAPFIMS was granted ‘No Objection Certificate’ by the CEO as well as recommended by the Standing Committee of the National Board of Wildlife on the basic premise that 17.75 acres of land... shall be kept aside,” said CEC in its order on June 25. The project was also cleared by the SCNBWL in a meeting held on March 2, 2017.

“...Now coming back for seeking permission to utilize the area earmarked for vegetation and greenery amounts to going back on foundational principles and creating a fait-accompli situation,” the order said, adding that discussions held with CAPFIMS revealed that the institute sought additional land from the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) too.

CEC said that despite an agreement to not expand to the forest area, CAPFIMS drafted a fresh proposal in June 2023, which, if approved, will violate the original proposal. The body also pointed out that the institute has failed to create an adequate green cover in the area, despite its 2016 assurance.

The original proposal was approved by the Ridge Management Board in a meeting on June 16, 2016, with the condition that the “leftover area of the proposed institute — part of the Morphological Ridge/Ridge should have a dense vegetive cover so that it works as a shield for the wildlife in the nearby Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary.”

“DDA has not given any positive reply so far. Hence, the forest land appealed to them as an easy option and to mold it to their own advantage, caring the least for the life-supporting, oxygen-giving, vegetation that they promised to develop for their own good,” the order said.

HT reached out to the Union home ministry, under which CAPFIMS falls, but did not receive a response immediately.

The campus site is close to the area where 1,100 trees were felled by the DDA to build two new roads in the Southern Ridge. One of the two roads was supposed to reach the CAPFIMS campus.

RMB approved CAPFIMS’s expansion proposal in a meeting on August 24, 2023. All proposals related to the Delhi’s Ridge first have to be cleared by the RMB, after which it has to be cleared by CEC.

CEC observed that though the construction work for the campus was completed, greening the 17.75-acre area around the campus was yet to begin. It directed CAPFIMS to start the process as soon as possible.

The area around the campus is already under the scrutiny of the top court after it pulled up DDA for felling over 1,100 trees to build two roads — from Chhattarpur’s Gaushala road to the South Asian University road (1.07km) and a second from the university to CAPFIMS.