Tale of wilted fines: Space tough to come by for saplings in Maafi Bagh

Part of the forestation at the Central Ridge cluster known as Maafi Bagh has been undertaken as penance by violators of the law. However, congestion has led to several saplings wilting.

The sight of thousands of fresh saplings greets visitors to Delhi’s Central Ridge – a notified forest area adjacent to Sardar Patel Marg – thanks to court orders to assorted offenders to help the forests and wildlife department plant trees using fine amounts imposed on them.

A close look at saplings planted in Maafi Bagh shows that nearly half are in bad shape.  (Sanjeev Verma/HT)

The cluster that houses several native plant varieties has come to be commonly known as Maafi Bagh – garden of forgiveness – as part of the forestation has been undertaken as court-ordained penance by those falling foul of the law. But, a spot check reveals operational constraints have overshadowed the novel garden. Congested plantation has led to saplings wilting away for lack of sunlight, left stunted with no space to grow.

In March 2019, justice Najmi Waziri of the Delhi high court imposed a fine of ₹80 lakh on a pharmaceutical company for breach of court orders, ordering it to use the amount for the “larger public good” and create a green area of 140,000 saplings in the Central Ridge.

Complying with the orders, the department of forests and wildlife said in its submission that it could plant just 3,500 saplings in the area, citing lack of space in the ridge’s rocky terrain. But, with the court warning of contempt proceedings, the department scaled up the number to over 15,000 saplings in that case, and also carried out compensatory plantation in nearly 50 more such matters since then. To be sure, since March 2019, over 45,000 saplings have been planted in the cluster.

To compensate for the poor living conditions for the plants and lack of space, a similar area for compensatory plantation was created in Delhi’s Southern Ridge, called Insaaf Bagh (garden of justice).

The new site has reignited hopes of a green revival as a close look at the saplings planted in the original Maafi Bagh showed that nearly half of those are in bad shape. Each tree has been meticulously numbered and tagged, but with the saplings growing too close to each other, there isn’t adequate sunlight, forest officials say.

Officials working in the area say efforts are made to find spots where there are openings in a larger tree canopy, but with the invasive Vilayati Kikar variety covering large patches of the Central Ridge sunlight doesn’t percolate down.

“These are two Kadamb trees, both planted at the same time. While one of them now stands at a height of nearly 12 feet, the other has barely touched 4 feet. The former receives plenty of sunlight but the latter is growing in a shaded area under a Vilayati Kikar and is finding it tough to spread out or grow,” explains a forest official watering a patch of 26,000 saplings planted as part of the Aparna Bhat vs Sakshi Singh case in the Delhi high court.

To create room for fresh saplings to be planted in each new case, the ground vegetation is the first to be cleared, before pits are dug at gaps of four to 10 feet to accommodate them. Another forest official, who does not want to be named, says the mortality rate is around 20%, largely due to plants not receiving enough nutrients and sunlight despite earnest efforts.

“We are watering each patch using borewells and STP (sewage treatment plant) water. Plenty of manure is provided to the plants, but some are simply unable to grow,” says the official, adding that it is difficult to prune the Kikars to allow passage of sunlight as the area is a notified forest.

“The rules for a notified forest are more stringent and permissions are required under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. Therefore, we have not carried out any pruning.”

Navneet Srivastava, deputy conservator of forests (west), says efforts are being made to comply with all court orders, with different soil and moisture conservation techniques put into use.

“We have created check dams in the area, where saplings are being grown. A water body has also been revived. We are trying our best to comply with all court orders, which have resulted in a lot of good work done in the Central Ridge,” he said.

However, experts believe not only is the lack of ground vegetation damaging to the overall ecology of the forest, but not all trees are likely to survive the plantation process.

Environmentalist Pradip Krishen, author of Trees of Delhi, says only a few species will be able to grow on their own once irrigation is withdrawn, stressing the need to have adequate spacing between saplings and ground-level flora.

“A lot of saplings are unable to grow properly as they are growing close to each other. Other species will dry out as soon as they stop receiving water as the Ridge’s rocky, thin top-soil ecology only supports a fixed number of species. While it is good to plant more saplings, it needs to be done with adequate spacing and without removing the ground vegetation,” he says.

Vijay Dhasmana, ecologist and a curator at the Aravalli Biodiversity Park in Gurugram, says species such as Bargad, Peepul, Neem or Pilkhan cannot grow if they are planted at a distance of five to six feet.

“The exercise may not yield any ecological benefits if they are being planted too close or are not receiving enough sunlight. Most trees will not survive and if one has to be bring about restorative change, then the Vilayati Kikars need to be removed systematically alongside the plantation being done,” he says.