Urban Forestry: Urbanisation and Greening of Indian Cities- Efforts ...
Transcript of Urban Forestry: Urbanisation and Greening of Indian Cities- Efforts ...
Assignment: MCT Phase IV: June-Aug 2013
Urban Forestry: Urbanisation and Greening of Indian
Cities- Efforts for Green Delhi
Rama Shankar Sinha, Director, Department of AYUSH, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare,
Government of India
Abstract:
Urbanisation is a logical and well anticipated consequence along the development of the cities.
The role of urban forest in ameliorating urban habitats and improving quality of life is
significant. Trees in urban system provide a variety of ecosystem services including biodiversity
conservation, removal of atmospheric pollutants, oxygen generation, noise reduction, mitigation
of urban heat island effect, microclimate regulation, stabilization of soil, groundwater recharge,
prevention of soil erosion and carbon sequestration. With the participation of many different
organization, local council, municipal and national planning bodies, department etc. for greening
of cities is preferred. Government departments, educational institutions, municipal bodies, local
residents are the key players in the greening of the urban cities. Systematic management entails
regulated tree management, operations such as planting, pruning and felling needs to be
conducted in an organized manner at the appropriate time. The need for urban forestry is to be
planned, integrated and systematic. Approach to urban tree management should be stressed upon.
Planning is important because trees are very often considered as an afterthought once
development has taken place rather than being incorporated as original design phase .For
effective, planned and systematic management of the tree in cities a measure of legal control is
necessary. Law may be necessary for both to protect the tree from removal and to protect
residents from hazardous trees. NCT of Delhi has been making continuous effort in this direction
and taken many initiatives on this front which has shown positive results and it has been
considered worth discussing here to have a framework for greening to be utilised while planning
for the other cities. Census data for 2011 & data on Forest Cover of SFR 2011 has been used in
the discussion.
Key Words:
City Forests, Ridge, Free Distribution, DPGS, Biodiversity Parks, Greening Agencies
Introduction:
Urban forestry is the management of trees for their contribution to the physiological, sociological
and economic well being of the urban society. Urban forestry deals with woodlands, group of
trees and individual trees where people live.[1].
The need for urban forestry is to be planned & integrated and systematic approach to urban tree
management should be stressed. Planning is important because trees are very often considered as
an afterthought once development has taken place rather than being incorporated as original
design phase. An integrated approach implies the participation of many different organization,
local council, municipal and national planning bodies, department etc. Systematic management
entails regulated tree management, operations such as planting, pruning and felling must be
conducted in an organized manner at the appropriate time.[1]. Parks and green spaces are the
backbone of the sustainable and high quality urban environment.[2].
Urban forestry is concerned primarily with environmental enhancement, control of air and noise
pollution and microclimatic modification.[1]. High quality green spaces bring considerable
benefits to the people’s physical and mental health and to the environment.[2]. Urban greens
with their vide collection of trees and other plants have huge educational potential. Urban parks
are an important recreational facility in developing as well as developed countries. People derive
quantifiable benefits from the positive experience of viewing trees. The positive effect being
both psychological as well as physiological.[1]. People appreciate the urban green space
sustainably. People appreciate that urban green space serve important social, psychological
health, aesthetic, ecological and economic functions. However these functions are frequently
taken for granted. Studies in cities in India suggest willingness of visitors to pay the entry fee
provided these green spaces, gardens are managed sustainably [6]. In India urban parks and
garden are also valued as a wildlife habitat. For example importance of cultivating Ficus spp to
provide food for birds. Trees can have a significant and quantifiable effect on the local climate.
Many Chinese urban foresters who claim to have altered the climate of some cities through
widespread tree planting. Perhaps the most important contribution of tree to human comfort in
hot countries is in shade, both directly and indirectly. They also provide protection from heavy
rain and for the urban poor are a commonly used shelter both at night for sleep and during the
day. Air in urban areas of many developing countries suffer from serious level of air pollution
and may cause health problem. Tree planting alone is unlikely to have significant effect in
cleaning the atmospheric pollutants however tree and other vegetation may contribute to this
goal if used along with other measures. Trees do have the potential to make a marked
improvement on air quality by absorbing carbon dioxide and other pollutants. Noise in the urban
environment is often excessive and discomforting, particularly when it occurs at high
frequencies. As with air pollution, the trees cannot solve the problem of noise but may help to
reduce it to possibly more acceptable level if used along with other measures. Noise pollution is
reduced by tree through absorption, deflection, reflection etc.[1]. Foremost challenge is
maintaining human wellbeing by provision for clean air and healthy living through conservation
and restoration of urban green space and urban forest.[3].
Trees in urban system provide a variety of ecosystem services including biodiversity
conservation, removal of atmospheric pollutants, oxygen generation, noise reduction, mitigation
of urban heat island effect, microclimate regulation, stabilization of soil, groundwater recharge,
prevention of soil erosion and carbon sequestration[7]. Without urban green spaces a sustainable
city cannot be designed [8].
The term urban green space is used as comprehensive term comprising trees in all urban parks,
forests and along the roads, canal etc which contribute greenery in the city. Three main
component of the urban forest and green spaces are : Patch ( Urban domestic gardens, public and
private parks, gardens, urban forest patches etc), corridor ( roadside avenues, walkaway and
urban green ways etc) and Network structure ( layout of all the patches and corridors connecting
the patches)[3].
The threat to human safety is one of the major potential problems and can serve as a hazard to
urban inhabitants either directly through the falling tree/ branch or indirectly when cause damage
to the structure[1]. Therefore to minimize or to avoid it, proper planning at initial stage before
planting is required. Instant result is wanted so large saplings are planted which require intensive
after care. [1].
Government departments, educational institutions, municipal bodies, local residents are the key
players in the greening of the urban cities. For effective planned and systematic management of
the tree in cities a measure of legal control is necessary. Law may be necessary for both to
protect the tree from removal and to protect residents from hazardous trees.[1].
Figures compiled by UN (1991) indicate that in mid 1990, 45% ( 2.5 billion ) of the people of the
world were living in town cities and this will have increased to 51% in the year 2000 and 65% in
the year 2025. [1]. Cities occupy less than 3% of the global terrestrial surface but accounts for
78% of the carbon emissions. [1]. In 1900 just 10% of the global population was living in Urban
areas which now exceeds 50% and is expected to rise to 67% in next 50 years [3].
International minimum standard suggested by WHO and adopted by the publications of Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a minimum availability of 9 sqm green open space per
city dweller[9]. As per the census data for the year 2011, the total population of India has
shown percent decadal growth of 17. 64 % and the rural population 12.18% whereas the urban
population percent decadal growth has been 31.80%.. The trend is similar in respect of many of
the states and other cities. [4]. Before it is too late, planners for the other such Indian cities needs
to take into consideration the action and the initiatives required in advance to ensure proper
greening. NCT of Delhi has been making continuous effort in this direction and taken many
initiatives on this front which has shown positive results and it is worth discussing here to have a
framework for greening to be utilised while planning for the other cities.
Material and Discussion:
In India, NCT of Delhi is witnessing very high population growth. Density of population of
NCT of Delhi ( in terms of persons per sqkm) is 11297 in 2011 which was earlier 9340 in 2001.
To have a feel of the pace of urbanization of other Indian states and cities we may refer the
census data 2011 relating decadal growth of the population in respect of India, some of its states
and megacities which are shown below in the table 1:
Table:1- Census Data 2011 ( Rural & Urban Population and its decadal growth from 2001
to 2011) in respect of India, Some of its States & Cities
Population ( No. of persons) in 2011 Decadal growth from 2001 to 2011
in percent
Total Rural Urban Total Rural Urban
India 1210193422 833087662 377105760 17.64 12.18 31.80
NCT of Delhi 16753235 419319 16333916 20.96 -55.61 26.56
Chandigarh 1054686 29004 1025682 17.10 -68.51 26.86
Karnatka 61130704 37552529 23578175 15.67 7.63 31.27
Banglore 9588910 868971 8719939 46.68 11.82 51.39
Rajsthan 68621012 51540236 17080776 21.44 19.05 29.26
Jaipur 6663971 3164767 3499204 26.91 19.02 35.00
Andhra Pradesh 84665533 56311788 28353745 11.10 1.64 36.26
Hydrabad 4010238 0 4010238 4.71 0 4.71
Vishakhapatnam 4288113 2250655 2037458 11.89 - 2.21 33.09
West Bengal 91347736 62213676 29134060 13.93 7.73 29.90
Kolkata 4486679 0 4486679 -1.88 0 -1.88
Tamil Nadu 72138958 37189229 34949729 15.60 6.49 27.16
Chennai 4681087 0 4681087 7.77 0 7.77
Maharashtra 112372972 61545441 50821531 15.99 10.34 23.67
Mumbai 3145966 0 3145966 -5.75 0 -5.75
Mumbai
Suburban
9332481 0 9332481 8.01 0 8.01
Rapid urbanization of most of the cities are evident from the above table. With this pace of
urbanization soon many of the small and medium towns in India are likely to be taking the shape
of large towns, large town to metropolitan towns/cities, metropolitan cities to mega cities. These
cities require a greening plan/strategy in advance to maintain and bring up their environmental
and greening standards.
The forest cover in respect of the cities in terms of district taken from the SFR 2011 of Forest
Survey of India [10] and Frest Area in terms of sqm per city dwellers calculated using the census
data are shown in the table-2 below:
Table:2- Forest Cover and Forest Area per city dweller for some districts of india
State District Geogra
phical
Area (
in
Sqkm)
Total
Forest
Cover
(2011
Assessmet)
(in sqkm)
Percent of
Geographica
l Area
Population Forest Area(in
sqm) per city
Dweller
NCT of
Delhi
Central Delhi 25 5.05 20.20 578671 34.91
NCT of
Delhi
East Delhi 64 2.99 4.67 1707725 2.73
NCT of
Delhi
North-East
Delhi
60 4.0 6.83 2240749 3.05
NCT of
Delhi
North-West
Delhi
440 16.49 3.75 3651261 4.52
NCT of
Delhi
New Delhi 35 16.31 46.60 133713 121.98
NCT of
Delhi
North Delhi 59 4.81 8.15 883418 5.44
NCT of
Delhi
South Delhi 250 78.32 31.33 2292363+
2733752*
15.58
NCT of
Delhi
West Delhi 129 6.33 4.91 2531583 2.50
Gujrat Ahmedabad 87.07 1.44 1.65 7208200 0.20
Gujrat Gandhinagar 649 42 6.47 1387478 30.27
Karnatka Banglore
Rural
5815 812 13.96 Combined
with urban
2.17
Karnatka Banglore
Urban
2190 150 6.85 9588910
Maharashtra Mumbai City 157 2 1.27 3145966 0.635
Maharashtra Mumbai
Suburban
446 120 26.91 9332481 12.86
Rajsthan Jaipur 14069 631 4.49 6663971 94.688
Tamil Nadu Chennai 144 9 6.25 4681087 1.92
West Bengal Kolkata 185 0 0 4486679 32.540
West Bengal Howrah 1467 146 9.95 Combined
with
Kolkata
Andhra
Pradesh
Hyderabad &
Ranareddy
7710 391 5.07 4010238 97.50
Andhra
Pradesh
Vishakhapat
nam
11161 3439 30.81 4288113 801.98
Chandigarh Chandigarh 114 16.78 14.72 1054686 15.90
From the above it is clear that in course of urbanization, greening is likely to be most affected
unless well planned approach towards it is taken in advance. Many of the cities either require
immediate action for its greening and legal provision in place to protect the green cover and
prevent its diversion.
Delhi has the Geographical area of 1483 Sqm. The Recorded Forest is 85 sqm(5.73%). Total
Forest & Tree Cover in Delhi is 19.97% of the Geographical area. Forest Cover constitutes
11.88% and the Tree Cover constitutes 8.09 % of its geographical area. [10]. Decadal growth of
the urban population in NCT of Delhi is 31.80% between 2001 & 2011. Total population of
Delhi is 16753235. Hence the area of Forest & Tree cover per dweller is 17.680 sqm. Forest
cover in Dehli despite very high rate of increase of population and associated developmental
activitie has increased from 1.48% in 1993 to 19.97% in 2011.To ensure sustainable level of
green space to provide desirable high quality environmental conditions to the urban citizens , a
multipronged strategy has been adopted for greening in Delhi.
To have proper legal control, Delhi there is a special act in the form of Delhi Preservation of
Tree Act,1994 ( DPTA,1994) which is applicable in the NCT of Delhi in respect of all the tree
irrespective of its ownership and the ownership of the land on which it is standing. Delhi
Preservation of Tree Act,1994 defines tree in its section 2(i) as “ “tree” means any woody plant
whose branches spring from and are supported upon a trunk or body and whose trunk or body is
not less than five centimeters in diameter at a height of 30 cm from the ground level and is not
less than 1 m in height from the ground level.” Further the act has provision for designating tree
officer in its section 2(j) as “ “ Tree Officer “ means a forest officer appointed as such by the
Government for the purpose of the act. “ As per section 2(h) of the act “ to fell a tree” with
cognate expression, means severing the trunk from the roots, uprooting the tree and includes
bulldozing, cutting, girdling, lopping, pollarding, applying arboricides, burning or damaging a
tree in any other manner. Chapter II of the Act has a provision for constitution of a Tree
Authority. Chapter V of the act deals with restriction on felling and removal of trees and
liabilities for preservation of Tree. Section -9 of the Act specifies procedure for obtaining
permission to fell, cut, remove or dispose of a tree. Section -10 of the DPTA,1994 deals with the
obligation to plant tree by every person who is granted permission under this act to fell or
dispose any tree.[11]. In this regard it is to add that presently in lieu of the permission for
removal of a tree, compensatory plantation of 10 plants of tree species are to be done and
maintained for five years. To ensures this, the applicants are required to deposit an amount of Rs
28000/- per tree permitted for removal by the tree officer. Out of Rs 28000/- , 50% of the same
i.e. Rs 14000/- is refundable to the applicant after 5 years once the plantation of 5 saplings of tree
species and its maintenance by him is confirmed and failing which the same is carried out by the
Forest Department of Govt. of NCT of Delhi using the said refundable sum of Rs 14000/- per
tree. Balance plantation of 5 saplings and its maintenance is compulsorily done by the Forest
Department on the identified land using the balance 50% deposited amount by applicant. It is
worth mentioning that there is a special provision in the Section-8 of the act to take care of the
dangerous trees. It states that if the tree is not immediately felled there would be danger to life or
property or traffic the owner of the land may take immediate action to fell such tree and report
the fact to the Tree Officer within twenty four hours of such felling. To discourage the illicit /
illegal felling of trees department has established Tree Help Line where any informer informs
about such cases and follow up action is being taken. This has proved to be very useful in
information gathering on illicit felling. Moreover, where ever the tree are to be removed from the
forest land for non forestry purposes the provision of Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 is applied
while processing the case for the clearances and compensatory plantation using the CAMPA
Fund is also being carried out.
Unique aspect of the notified forest in Delhi is that Ridge Land of total 7784 Ha of land has been
notified as Reserved Forests under section 4 of Indian Forest Act 1927. Northern Ridge consists
of 87 Ha. Central Ridge consists of 864 Ha. South Central Ridge consists of 626 Ha. 7 Ha of the
notified ridge forest land is in Nanakpura South Central Ridge. Southern Ridge Notified Forest
consists of 6200 Ha. Protection & Enrichment plantation in the ridge land has been the main
agenda.
Forest Department has been distributing more than 5 lakhs saplings of various species annually
free of cost. Apart from providing saplings free of cost from its nurseries located in various part
of Delhi, the free distribution in the monsoon /plantation season has also been done through pre
fixed petrol pumps, mother dairy booths & Kendriya Bhandar. Advertisement is also made for
generating awareness for free distribution of saplings. Great enthusiasm has been shown by the
citizen of Delhi especially the school children.
Forest Department has 14 major nurseries maintained in various parts of Delhi to meet the
demand of saplings for the free distribution and also to meet the demand of the department of
around 3 lakh saplings annually for carrying out plantation departmentally. Saplings mainly of
Neem, Jamun, Bel, Peepal, Gular, Amaltas, Gulmohar, Papri, Jungle Jilebi, Sheesham, Burgad ,
Tamrind ,Semal, Lagerstremia, Arjun etc species are raised in the departmental nurseries. For
the plantation on the ridge land ridge spp. such as Ronge, Dhak, Ber, Pasendu etc are judiciously
mixed with other species such as Neem, Sheesham, Bargad, Peepal etc has been taken up.
To boost the greening efforts further 18 Greenig Agencies have been identified which mainly
consists of Government Agencies and Municipal bodies. Some of these greening agencies are
Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Delhi Development Department, Public Works Department,
Central Public Works Department, Delhi Parks & Garden Society, NDMC, Education
Department, Transport Department, Flood Control Department, Development Department, Delhi
Metro Rail Corporation etc. These agencies have been allotted certain target annually for
plantation which has been done by them using their own resources. Many of them have their own
nurseries and infrastructure for carrying out plantation on their land. Forest Department has been
coordinating the greening activities. For generating proper awareness among the citizens
Ceromonial Plantations are carried out at regular interval.
ECO Task Force ( 132 Bn) has been engaged by the department for Eco restoration of Bhatti
mines w.e.f. 2000-2001. ETF has been initially asked to rehabilitate 2100 acre of abandoned and
degraded Bhatti mines area. This has not only resulted in greening of the large area of the
abandoned degraded mined area despite tough plantation conditions but also the area has been
protected from the encroachment despite huge anthropogenic pressure. They have also taken up
Soil and Moisture Conservation work has also been taken up there.
Department has created around 40 City Forest on the land provided for plantation/compensatory
plantation upto 2011-12. Total area in these city forests is more than 1000 Ha. Most of the City
Forests are either in North-West district or South- West district of NCT of Delhi. The availability
of land in other districts for creation of City Forests have been scarce. In North-East district of
NCT of Delhi plantation on large scale on around 300 Ha land along the bank of River Yamuna
has been taken up the by the forest department and a city forest has been created there. The
district of East Delhi and North East Delhi is dense and finding land for plantation has been very
difficult. However recently the space available in the round about on the road crossings have
been spared and provided to the department for the plantation of trees. One of such plantation
has been created at ITO Chungi round about in East Delhi on more than 20 ha land. Also in
order to make available land for plantation, sides of the roads and central verges have also been
identified for the plantation. One of such plantation has been carieed out along the road on both
sides and on the central verge between Wazirabad and Mukarba Chowk on NH-1 using the
security amount received from DMRC in lieu of the permission granted to them for the removal
of trees. Success of plantation in New Delhi has been always been very difficult due to extreme
conditions especially due to scarcity of water but with a combination of strategies adopted such
as use of tall saplings and round the clock protection the survival rate has been increased
tremendously. To meet the demand for watering of the young saplings, utilisation of semi
processed raw water on large scale is also being explored in consultation with the concerned
department.
Delhi has 18000 parks and garden under various civic agencies measuring more than 18000 Ha.
Many of them are managed with the help of NGOs/RWAs/Private Sector [5].To have proper
monitoring over the Parks and Gardens of Delhi and to facilitate the role of RWAs recently Delhi
Parks & Gardens Society (DPGS) has been constituted. These parks and garden are playing
important role in greening of the city and are used by the urban population for the recreational &
educational purposes. Further, Delhi Development Authority, DDA with the assistance of
technical experts has established two Biodiversity Parks in Delhi namely Yamuna Biodiversity
Park & Arawali Biodiversity Parks and which is important component of Green Delhi[12].
Conclusion:
Urbanisation at a rapid pace is a reality at present. Urban Forestry is an important contributory
factor in the cities for environmental enhancement, control of air and noise pollution,
microclimatic modification and recreational purposes of the urban population. Before the city
expands further a proper plan for greening in the city especially with respect to land availability
in the form of parks and gardens, forest patches and road side plantation should be in place. In
addition to avoid illegal diversion of green cover of the city for taking up developmental works
or otherwise a legal framework should be in place. And therefore plan for urban forestry should
be integrated into overall planning of the urban areas in advance otherwise greening of the
urbanised area becomes more difficult once the settlement takes place especially in identifying
the land for the same and in greening the same.
References :
[1] FAO CORPORATE DOCUMENT REPOSITORY, THE POTENTIAL OF URBAN
FORESTRY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRY: A CONCEPT PAPER, Produced by:- Forest
Department, http://www.fao.org/docrop/005/t1680e/t1680e01.h
[2] Urban Green Nation : Building the Urban Base. www.cabe.org.uk/files/urbangreen-
nation.pdf
[3] Vijay Shankar Singh, Deep Narayan Pandey, Pradeep Chaudhary, URBAN FORESTS
AND OPEN GREEN SPACES: LESSONS FOR JAIPUR, RAJSTHAN, INDIA
[4] Census Data, Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India, MHA,
Government of India, http:// censusindia.gov.in/2011
[5] S. D. Singh, CEO, Delhi Parks & Gardens Societ, Department of Environment,
Government of Delhi, Management of Urban Landscape in Delhi, International Conference on
Urban Forests and Biodiversity, 25-26 February,2010, Summary of Proceeding.
http://aravalifoundation.in/pdf/urbanforest.pdf
[6] Chaudhary, P. and V. P. Tewari,2010, Managing urban parks and garden in developing
countries, a case from an Indian cities. International Journal of Environment and Sustainable
Development (i): 30-36
[7] Bolund, P. and Hunhammar, S. 1999. Ecosystem Services in urban areas. Ecological
Economics 29: 293-301.
[8] Cheisura, A. 2004, The role of urban parks for the sustainable city. Landscape and Urban
Planning 68(1):129-138.
[9] Kuchelmeister, G. 1998. Urban Forestry Present Situation and Prospects in the Asia and
Pacific Region, FAO Asia- Pacific Forestry Sector Outlook Study, FAO Working Paper No.
APFSOS/WP/44, Food and Agriculture Organisations of the United Nations, Rome.
[10] State of Forest Report,2011 published by Forest Survey of India, http://www.fsi.org.in/
[11] http://delhi.gov.in/wps/wcm/connect/DOIT_Forest/forest/home, Web site of the Forest
Department, Govt. of Delhi
[12] http://dda.org.in/home , web site of the DDA.
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