Political Ecology of the Ridge: The Establishment and Contestation of Urban Forest Conservation in Delhi (Megacities and Global Change / Megastadte Und Globaler Wandel, 23)

The remains of the time-worn Aravalli Mountains that extend through Delhi are known as the Ridge. The range is also the site of Delhi s once continuous but now scattered forests, four segments of which are legally protected as wildlife conservation areas today. How did a biodiversity park and a wildlife sanctuary come to be established in a large and rapidly growing megacity with severe competition for land resources? What does this mean for various citizens who use the forests for different purposes? Megha Sud provides an insight into the answers to these questions by examining the negotiations that led to the establishment of conservation as the dominant discourse in the Ridge, highlighting the role of various actors and the unequal power relations embedded in these deliberations and their outcomes. In this study she brings together concepts from political ecology and urban political ecology, using literature on local politics and development to ground the argument in the context. She argues that the forested spaces of Delhi must be understood as implicated in the socio-political structures of the city if urban conservation policies are to be sustainable both socially and environmentally. CONTENTS ABSTRACT ZUSAMMENFASSUNG ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS LIST OF ACRONYMS 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF URBAN FORESTS IN DELHI 1.2 AN INTRODUCTION TO THE DELHI RIDGE 1.3 OUTLINE OF THE BOOK 2 STATE OF THE ART: LOCATING THE STUDY IN THE FIELD OF POLITICAL ECOLOGY 2.1 POLITICAL ECOLOGY: THE PROBLEM OF DEFINITION 2.2 URBAN POLITICAL ECOLOGY 2.3 CENTRAL ELEMENTS OF POLITICAL ECOLOGY AND URBAN POLITICAL ECOLOGY 2.4 POST-STRUCTURALIST URBAN POLITICAL ECOLOGY IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH 3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS, METHODOLOGY AND METHODS 3.1 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN 3.3 ENTERING THE FIELD AND FRAMING THE STDY 3.4 METHODS OF DATA ELICITATION 3.5 CHALLENGES AND LIMITATIONS 3.6 DATA RELIABILITY AND RESEARCHER POSITIONALITY 4 A HISTORY OF DEFORESTATION, AFFORESTATION AND PROTECTION 4.1 BRIEF OVERVIEW OF DEFORESTATION AND AFFORESTATION PRE-COLONIAL AND COLONIAL PERIODS 4.2 LEGAL STATUS OF THE RIDGE: A READING OF NOTIFICATIONS (1913–2006) 4.3 CONCLUSION 5 THE STATE AS MULTIPLE ACTORS 5.1 INTRODUCTION: THE STATE IN ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS 5.2 THE DELHI DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY 5.3 THE FOREST DEPARTMENT 5.4 THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA 5.5 CONCLUSION 6 CONSERVATION OF THE RIDGE ENTERS PUBLIC DISCOURSE 6.1 KALPAVRIKSH AND SRISHTI 6.2 FORMATION OF THE JOINT NGO FORUM FOR THE RIDGE 6.3 LEGACY OF ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM 1979–1995 7 THE THREE CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION PROJECTS IN THE RIDGE 7.1 THE MAHIPALPUR RIDGE: OF MINES, MALLS AND BIODIVERSITY PARKS 7.2 SANJAY VAN: CITIZEN RESTORATION PROJECT 7.3 THE ASOLA BHATTI WILDLIFE SANCTUARY 7.4 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION 8 UNEQUAL POLITICS: FORMATION AND USE OF CONSERVATION SPACES 8.1 COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ENVIRONMENTALISM AROUND THE RIDGE 8.2 CRITICAL REVIEW OF PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION AS A DISCURSIVE PRACTICE 8.3 SCIENTIFIC EXPERTS AS POLITICAL ACTORS 8.4 IMPLICATIONS FOR THE MARGINALISED 8.5 THE SUBORDINATE SOCIAL JUSTICE DISCOURSE 8.6 CONCLUSION 9 DISCOURSES, STORYLINES AND METABOLISM OF THE RIDGE 10 CONCLUSION 10.1 SUMMARISATION OF MAIN ARGUMENTS 10.2 POST-STRUCTURAL CONTEXTUAL URBAN POLITICAL ECOLOGY 10.3 SOME OPTIMISTIC REFLECTIONS 10.4 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH REFERENCES APPENDICES