The fight to preserve the Dwarka Forest is a testament to what citizen movements can achieve.
Forests and greenery in our neighbourhood are shrinking but often go unnoticed, but not for Naveen Solanki, a 23-year-old environmental activist from Shahbad Mohammadpur in Delhi’s Dwarka. Growing up near the forest near Terminal III of the Indira Gandhi International Airport, Solanki spearheaded a citizen’s movement that preserved the trees and thousands of native birds and wildlife. The 120-acre forest land was acquired by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) in the 1960s and then by the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) around 2008. In the early 2000s, a forest naturally grew in the area, providing a congested Delhi with lungs that would act as a carbon sink and absorb toxic fumes.
Image Credits: Save Dwarka Forest
Image credit: Scroll.in
2021
RLDA launched its Bijwasan Railway Redevelopment Project, during which the RLDA contractors began to bury trees alive instead of cutting them because they had no permission from the Forest Department of Delhi to do so.
Image Credit: Citizen Matters/ Ankita Marwaha
2022
Solanki saw the destruction caused to the forest because he would regularly patrol the area to keep track of any non-forest activities and gather evidence which he submitted to the Forest Department. The Forest Department of Delhi then imposed a fine of Rs 5.93 crore on RLDA for the illegal felling/burying of 990 trees in the area back in 2022. Cutting trees in the city requires permission from the Forest Department under the Delhi Preservation of Trees Act, 1994. However, if an area is a protected forest or deemed forest, permission is also required under the Forest Conservation Act, 2023.
Image Credit: Citizen Matters/ Ankita Marwaha
October 2023
While Solanki’s efforts were receiving some attention now, he had been trying to reach out to many Delhi-based environmentalists for decades in the hope of coming together to preserve the forest. Apart from reaching out to people, Solanki would also spend hours patrolling the forests, making a note of any illegal activity; while trying to stop the destruction of the forest to the extent that he could in real time.
Soon, multiple outreach efforts resulted in a coalition of many organisations; namely Greenpeace India, Fridays for Future Delhi, Climate Front India, Youth for Climate India and Green Pencil Foundation. With the common goal of saving the Dwarka Forest, a citizen’s movement was now set in full force.
Image Credit: Citizen Matters
February 2024
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) ruled Dwarka Forest as a non-protected land, which in effect provides bodies like the RLDA complete access to clear the full forest. The only option now was the appeal to the Supreme Court of India. Without losing any momentum, the coalition quickly realized what they had to do and focused all their attention towards the apex court.
In July of 2024,
Fridays for Future Delhi reached out to Jhatkaa.org to support their on-ground efforts with a signature petition. Within a few months, thousands of members supported the campaign and also spread awareness about the issues within their circles.
On September 17, 2024,
the Supreme Court halted the felling of trees in Delhi’s Dwarka Forest. “We make it clear that no construction shall be carried out in the subject land.” The bench headed by Justice AS Oka said. The next hearing was scheduled for October 21, 2024, where the court has sought responses from the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) under the Ministry of Railways, the Delhi Forest Department, and the company executing the project.
On May 8, 2025,
the matter was heard by the National Green Tribunal (NGT). The Court took cognizance and has issued notices to the concerned departments, seeking their responses.
Image Credits: Save Dwarka Forest