Overview
- The court directed the Environment Ministry to notify and constitute the reconstituted Delhi Ridge Management Board under the Environment (Protection) Act within six weeks, with a standing committee to be formed within six weeks after the Board is set up.
- The Board will function as the sole single-window authority for all matters concerning the Delhi Ridge and the Morphological Ridge, with all previously formed committees ordered to cease operations.
- Granting statutory status under Section 3(3) was mandated despite the Environment Ministry’s claim of overlapping powers, an objection the bench expressly rejected.
- Oversight mechanisms include Board compliance reports every six months and independent updates from the Board’s CEC representative to the Supreme Court every three months.
- Citing a CEC finding that roughly 308.5 hectares—about 5%—of the Ridge is encroached, the court ordered removal of illegal occupation and directed afforestation and habitat conservation, while criticizing the Delhi government’s lack of urgency.