Govt forms 11-member council to protect city’s biodiversity, plan for its future

The council will function as an autonomous unit under the forest and wildlife department of Delhi and receive separate funds. It will hold its first meeting on Friday

Updated on: Jan 13, 2022, 01:21:42 IST

By Jasjeev Gandhiok

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The Delhi government has created an 11-member Delhi Biodiversity Council to protect existing biodiversity parks and oversee the creation of more such facilities in the future in the Capital.

The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) has issued directions to have biodiversity councils in each state and Union Territory across the country. (Picture for representation only/HT)

Created after the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) issued directions to have one such body in each state and Union Territory across the country, the council will function as an autonomous unit under the forest and wildlife department of Delhi and receive separate funds. It will hold its first meeting on Friday.

As per the gazette notification, the council, headed by Delhi University professor CR Babu as its chairperson, has Delhi’s chief wildlife warden as its member secretary and includes the principal chief conservator of forest, the Delhi development commissioner, the principal secretary (environment and forest) and the principal secretary (urban development) among its five ex-officio members. The body also has four expert members -- Indraprastha University professor Sumit Dookia; Vijay Dhasmana, curator at the Aravalli Biodiversity Park in Gurugram; and INTACH’s Dr Ritu Singh and Manu Bhatnagar -- each of who will have a term of three years.

“Our long-term goal is to preserve Delhi’s existing biodiversity and to rejuvenate areas which are now suffering due to the urban stress. With the funds allocated, different sections such as waterbodies, forests and the floodplains can receive individual attention,” said Babu.

Nisheeth Saxena, member secretary of the council, said the chairman of the NBA will attend the first council meeting on Friday. “The NBA will guide us in the first meeting, and plans for the year 2022 will also be decided,” he said.

Dookia said the council can carry out different types of census for animals and birds once funds are allocated. “Once the first meeting is held, the agenda for the year will become clearer,” he said.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jasjeev Gandhiok
Jasjeev Gandhiok is an Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times, where he covers environment, climate change, the clean energy transition and wildlife at the National Bureau. Gandhiok has over a decade of experience in journalism and is based in Delhi. He has reported extensively on Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR). This includes the region's air pollution woes, a polluted Yamuna and on urban wildlife still thriving in the region. He joined HT in October 2021. Prior to that, he had five-year stint at The Times of India in Delhi, where he also covered Delhi, with a focus on environment and wildlife. Gandhiok has covered some recent events around the Capital too, ranging from the farmers' protests, the northeast Delhi riots and the CAA-NRC protests, reporting from the ground on all of these. He also travels across the country to report on how environment and climate change impact everyday life, while also writing on endangered species. His reports in 2019 on toxic leachate from Delhi's landfills led to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) taking suo motu cognisance and ultimately asking the state government to start bio-mining to flatten and remove all three landfills in the capital. He also closely tracks the implementation of government policies on climate, renewable energy and environmental protection. His focus remains on impactful, public-interest journalism which explains how environmental decisions affect people's everyday lives.Read More