MCD begins first census of trees in Delhi

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi said it has begun the first tree census in areas governed by the civic body — counting, marking and geo-tagging all trees in parks and public spaces — officials aware of the development said on Wednesday

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi said it has begun the first tree census in areas governed by the civic body — counting, marking and geo-tagging all trees in parks and public spaces — officials aware of the development said on Wednesday. The first manual phase of the exercise is expected to take 15 days after which the geo-tagging will be carried out in the second phase, the officials added.

MCD begins first census of trees in Delhi

Mayor Shelly Oberoi said that the process has started in all 250 wards. “Under this project, the horticulture department will mark each tree with a serial number. In the first phase, the census of trees will be done manually and in the second phase, location and tagging of trees will be done,” Oberoi said.

A census is conducted to record the number of trees in a colony, their age, health, and conditions and helps residents and authorities understand, prioritise, plan, and take action.

MCD covers an area of 1397.3 sqkm which is sub-divided into 12 zones — central, south, west, Najafgarh, Rohini, Civil Lines, Karol Bagh, SP-City, Keshavpuram, Narela, Shahdara north and Shahdara south — which are further sub-divided into 250 municipal wards. The corporation oversees 15,226 municipal parks covering 5,172 acre along 1,500km internal colony roads.

Oberoi said that counting trees will likely help the corporation maintain green spaces more efficiently by quantifying the exact number of trees in each area. “This exercise will enable easy identification of trees and also help in their periodic pruning. The counting of trees will help in controlling illegal tree cutting and ensuring green spaces are maintained. At the end of the survey, the exact data of trees in all the wards will be known. Based on this mapping, the plantation will be promoted in areas with less greenery,” the mayor said.

A senior official from the horticulture department said that around 4,000 workers — including gardeners and field staff — are undertaking the census, targeting 30-40 trees per day per worker. “We are counting and painting tree number at each site. For geo-tagging, we are exploring the option of hiring a private company in the second phase,” he added.

The New Delhi Municipal Council, which oversees the green space in Lutyens’ Delhi, completed its tree census in 2020 under a ₹52.5 lakh project. The civic body started the census in December 2019 through a Mumbai-based company, followed by a survey on the 135 roads of New Delhi, where neem, jamun, arjun, peepal and amaltas saplings were planted almost a century ago.

The details captured included a tree’s girth, height, crown area, location, any deformity, blooming season, carbon dioxide intake and oxygen releasing capacity, and if it was ever uprooted.

Vallari Sheel, an ecologist, who carried out a tree census in Vasant Vihar in 2015-16 said MCD should count all trees as the exercise will help check illegal tree felling. “This should be a living database and be made available on the public domain. This database is not only about the tree count but can be used to keep track of trees as they are treated for diseases, or deconcretised,” said Sheel.