Delhi ridge, referred as the ‘green lungs’ of the national capital, is the largest city forest in Delhi.
It makes Delhi the World’s Second most bird-rich Capital city after Nairobi in Kenya.
The ridge is a northern extension of the Aravalli ranges and protects Delhi from the sandy winds of the west.
Compared to the Himalayas, which are 50 million years old, Delhi Ridge still stands with a whopping age of 1500 million years!
The ridge in divided into four separate zones – Old Delhi and Northern Ridge, New Delhi or Central Ridge, Mehrauli or South-Central Ridge, Tughlaqabad or Southern Ridge.
The OLD DELHI or NORTHERN RIDGE denotes the hilly area near Delhi University and is by far the smallest segment of the Ridge. Nearly 170 hectares were declared a Reserved Forest in 1915. Less than 87 hectares remain today.
The NEW DELHI or CENTRAL RIDGE was made into a Reserved Forest I in 1914 and stretches from just south of Sadar Bazar to Dhaula Kuan. It extends over 864 hectares, but some bits have been nibbled away.
The MEHRAULI or SOUTH-CENTRAL RIDGE is centered on Sanjay Vana, near JNU, and encompasses 633 hectares.
The TUGHLAKABAD or SOUTHERN RIDGE sprawls across 6200 hectares and includes the Asola and Bhatti wildlife sanctuaries. This is the least urban of the 4 segments of the Ridge, but a lot of it is village- or privately-owned farmland
