Tree census in Delhi soon : India

New Delhi, Oct 18 - A tree census may soon be conducted in Delhi in a bid to curb the declining number of trees in residential colonies, an official has said, even as the UN has placed the national capital in the bottom half of the world green index.

We will be talking to the various resident welfare associations - in the next one month and would want them to conduct a tree census in their locality, Chief Secretary of Delhi, P.K. Tripathi told IANS on the sidelines of the release of the first tree census report conducted in south Delhi's Sarvodaya Enclave.

Tripathi further said that conducting a census is not an easy task but was the need of the hour as awareness had to be created and everybody, be it the RWAs or the residents, had to be roped in.

Concerned citizens should come forward and conduct more and more tree walks in their localities to educate others on how trees can be saved, he said, adding that a network of enthusiasts can keep a check on trees in their localities.

Tripathi promised that he would take up this issue with the RWA representatives in their next meeting.

According to the 'State of the World's Cities' report released Wednesday by UN Habitat evaluating cities on various factors like productivity, quality of life and environment sustainability, Delhi was ranked 58 among 95 select cities.

The tree census conducted in Sarvodaya Enclave revealed that it had 4,011 residents, 1,583 vehicles and 1,122 trees, several of which were in danger of dying due to rampant construction and unnecessary pruning.

A total of 787 trees along the roads were numbered.

It was conducted between April 2011 and May 2012 with the help of homemakers, children and environmentalists.