Thousands of trees saved: SC halts tree felling in Delhi’s Dwarka forest

“We make it clear that no construction shall be carried out in the subject land.” Justice AS Oka said in a hearing on Tuesday, September 17, 2024. 

A collective win for all of us!

The Dwarka forest – a dense green cover – located near Terminal 3 of Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi was being cleared rapidly to build mixed-use buildings, roads connecting to these buildings, and car parking for the Bijwasan Railways Redevelopment Project.

Permission for chopping tens of thousands of trees in the forest was granted by the National Green Tribunal in February, 2024, while declaring the land a non-forest, despite multiple appeals by locals and environmentalists to save one of the last natural biodiversity hotspots of the city. In solidarity with the movement to save the forest, along with our campaign partners, Fridays For Future Delhi, we launched a signature petition to save one of Delhi’s last remaining green lungs. Over 5,500 people joined us virtually in this campaign.

After months of relentless work, both online and offline, the Supreme Court passed an order on 17 September, 2024 , halting the felling of trees in the 120-acre forest situated near Delhi airport. The next hearing has been scheduled for October 21, 2024, where the court has sought responses from Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) under the Ministry of Railways, the Delhi forest department, and the company executing the project.