Draft Master Plan lists measures to save ‘green and blue’ assets, combat pollution
The draft Master Plan of Delhi-2041 envisages building sustainable infrastructure that will help the national capital curb local sources of pollution such as dust from construction sites and vehicular emissions, as well as redeveloping the city’s “green and blue” assets, referring to green cover and water bodies.
The draft document, prepared by the Delhi Development Authority, was put in the public domain on Wednesday for suggestions. Once approved, the plan will provide a policy framework for the development of the city till 2041.
This time, environmental degradation and mitigating strategies have been put in focus since Delhi has to face alarming levels of air pollution especially in the winter months, because of a combination of local, weather, and external factors such as stubble smoke from
NEW DELHI:
neighbouring states.
Besides redevelopment and protection of both forest and green cover as well as the Yamuna and other water bodies, the draft plan envisages building infrastructure in a way that connects people with their natural heritage.
“The aim is to provide a comprehensive framework to treat green and blue assets (natural and planned) as green-blue infrastructure to facilitate better continuum and strategies for tackling pollution, for protection and enhancement of natural assets with a public interface, to build new citylevel assets such as greenways along natural drains, repurposing underutilised sites and wastelands as green-blue assets, and greening of plots and buildings and introduction to green-blue Factor (GBF) for plan approval,” the draft said.
The “green-blue” plan suggests that to protect the depleting number of trees in Delhi, a tree directory be prepared by all agencies
lllof Delhi’s land area is under green cover
lllThe Ridge: A reserved forest spread over an area of about 7784 hectares. It constitutes nearly 5.2% of NCT of Delhi
26 protected forests, with a total area of about 1658 Ha.
unclassified forests (about 1090Ha) which are known as ‘city forests’.
18,000 parks and gardens
The biggest blue asset of Delhi is the river Yamuna
There are more than 4000 natural and constructed drains
City has more than 900 water bodies
concerned in their respective areas, and agencies be tasked with identifying unique tree corridors or precincts, heritage trees, precincts with high carbon storage and sequestration rates, etc. Such trees or clusters can then be protected and controlled by planting indigenous trees, and integrated
with cultural or nature trails.
Declaring that “Delhi’s history and cultural ethos is closely linked with the Yamuna”, the draft plan lists special initiatives for the rejuvenation of the river and its floodplains. These measures include a 300-metre green buffer along the entire edge of the river, developing
lllllCpcb-approved dust management plan at each construction site
Delineation of river Yamuna to include 1 in 25 years floodplain if approved by competent authority
A tree directory to be maintained by local agencies to protect trees
Allowing controlled development in greenbelt villages
Development of green buffer along drains as green corridors
cycling and walking trails along the embankments, restricting all permanent construction on the floodplain and identifying specific spots for cultural and agricultural activities.
Emphasising that curbing air and water pollution in the city will require effort by several states, the draft plan says that all member NCR states and respective pollution control boards need to follow the regulations and standards laid down by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director (research and advocacy), Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), said the DDA has ensured that there is a multi-sectoral understanding of the environmental crisis that Delhi is facing. However, she said, the master plan could be pushed further by setting tighter deadlines for managing polluting sectors to ensure early and efficient results.
“What needs to be appreciated is that environment is not seen as a stand-alone category, each segment of the document, such as transport, industries, water management, links to the overall environmental issue. Finally, we are also recognising separately the various factors that contribute to pollution, and this will help us tackle it better,” she said.