What have you done to remove encroachers from Ridge:HC to govt

Delhi High Court today asked the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government about the measures taken by it for relocating a colony from the Ridge area here as per the Supreme Court's direction to remove all encroachments from the area in order to protect the forest there.
A bench of justices Badar Durrez Ahmed and Ashutosh Kumar observed that a major reason for air pollution in Delhi was the "disappearing green and forest cover" and increase in construction activities which cause increase of PM 10 and PM 2.5 levels.
The judges said even they were concerned about the health of their grandchildren and that several of the people they knew closely have left the city or are planning to do so due to the pollution levels, after amicus curiae, senior advocate Kailash Vasdev said that over 10,000 kids are hospitalised every year in the city because of respiratory problems.

The court sought details of steps taken and proposed by AAP government to relocate Sanjay Nagar colony, which has allegedly encroached upon the Ridge area, so that forest cover of the area could be protected.
The court said that as per the apex court's direction, three colonies, allegedly encroached upon the Ridge, were to be relocated from there and two of them were shifted in 2006 while the third - Sanjay Nagar - was still there.
"It appears that demarcation has been done and the area has been clearly defined," the bench said.

The Delhi government, however, said that around 42,000 people live in the area and relocating them could be a law and order problem.

To this, the court said if the government was unable to carry out the direction it can approach the apex court for modification of the order.
The court also sought affidavits from the Centre and Delhi Traffic Police indicating the current status of the Integrated Traffic Management System's pilot project.
Apart from steps taken to relocate the colony, Delhi
government was also asked to indicate on affidavit whether it has any scheme for dealing with issues like climate change and abatement of pollution and whether any funds are allocated for the same.
The court observed that as per the documents before it the Centre has such schemes, but the funds for the same are "underutilised" and "targets are not achieved".

During the hearing, Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), represented by advocate Sanjeev Ralli, told the court that compared to last year there has been a decline in the pollution levels this year.
However, DPCC could not give the reasons for this decline and the court, thereafter asked it to carry out a study of the pollution levels of 2015 and this year as well as the contributory factors and to submit an interim report.
"You need palpable data. If the decline is due to human efforts, then it can be commended and replicated. If it is due to act of God, then God will have to be commended," the bench said.

Meanwhile, the municipal corporations managing the landfill sites said they are planning to compact the landfills by capping them with mud.
They also said that over 50 per cent of waste generated by the city was being sent to the waste to energy plants.
They further said they have entered into an agreement with GAIL to recover methane from the landfills, apart from identifying an additional 31 acres of land for a waste to energy plant.