What is more, the problem has already affected a project — the Badarpur Metro line that has been temporarily stalled due to this unforeseen hitch.

The issue came to light after the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) complained that they couldn’t carry out work on the Badarpur Metro line to Faridabad as the Forest department had been unable to find land to plant trees. Delhi Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta has called a high-level meeting of all stakeholders on Monday to resolve the issue.

According to government officials, there has been a dispute between the DMRC and the Forest department, which is to carry out the afforestation work on behalf of the Delhi Metro. “The DMRC says they have asked the Forest department to talk to the Divisional Commissioner with regards to the land where trees can be grown. The Forest department, meanwhile, has told the DMRC that it is their responsibility to get land and hand it over to them,” said a senior official, adding that as a result of the dispute the Badarpur-Faridabad line has been stalled temporarily.

DMRC chief spokesperson Anuj Dayal said: “For each tree we cut, we need to take permission from the Forest department. The DMRC was committed to plant 10 trees for every tree felled in the first phase and 11 trees in the second phase, under which the Badarpur line falls. The Forest department is supposed to carry out the afforestation work and it is the department that should be sorting out the issue with the government. The problem is that the time for implementation of the Badarpur line is the shortest — we have to carry it out in 35 months whereas most countries take six to 10 years for such a project,” said Dayal. He added that while procedures had to be followed the DMRC could not afford any delays.

The Chief Secretary admitted to a shortage of land for afforestation. “There is very little land left in Delhi. The land that is left is either for residential, commercial or institutional purpose — and even this is either privately owned or being developed by private developers. As a result, no one wants to part with land, especially because the land prices have also shot up drastically,” said Mehta.

He added that even though the compensation for agricultural land has been increased to Rs 75 lakh per acre, the fact remains that the market rate is around Rs 3 crore or more.

“We had suggested that through the newly formed Society for Parks and Gardens, the dilapidated parks could be used for afforestation purposes. Moreover, we had planned to convert such degraded parks into Carbon Sinks to absorb carbon dioxide from surrounding areas, but this has not been accepted by the MCD yet,” Mehta said.

The other solution to the problem, officials said, lies in the Green Belt proposed by the DDA in its Masterplan 2021. The idea is to form a green ring around the city, with a depth of one village, which will function as Delhi’s lungs. “However, it is not clear from the Masterplan if the Green Belt is to be used as agricultural land or for afforestation,” an official said.