The Supreme Court-Appointed Committee has recently granted permission for a stretch of the proposed Delhi-Alwar RRTS (Rapid Rail Transit System) corridor to be constructed under the Aravalli Biodiversity Park and the extended ridge area. This decision comes as part of ongoing efforts to improve regional connectivity, deliver a more efficient multimodal transport system and reduce travel congestion in and around Delhi.
The Committee’s Report: Balancing Public Interest with Environmental Impact
According to reports, the committee took into consideration both the public interest and environmental impact before making its decision. As the proposed rail corridor will be constructed 20 metres below the ground, it is anticipated that no trees will need to be removed during the construction process. Furthermore, there will be no construction on the surface in the Morphological Ridge area.
The Aravalli ridge areas extend over 7,000 hectares in Delhi and play a crucial role in balancing the capital’s ecology. These ridges serve as the ‘lungs’ of the city, helping to filter the air and provide an indispensable green cover.
Delhi-Alwar RRTS Corridor: An Overview
The Delhi-Alwar RRTS Corridor is designed to cover a distance of 164 km through a combination of elevated tracks and tunnels. Planned to be implemented in three phases, a 3.6-km long stretch of the corridor will pass underneath the extended or ‘morphological’ ridge in South Delhi, with 1.7-km running below the Aravalli Biodiversity Park near Vasant Kunj, Delhi.
The Potential Impact of the Corridor
Once completed, the corridor is expected to significantly reduce travel time between Delhi and Alwar to 117 minutes – just under two hours. In addition to speeding up travel time, the project also aims to improve the region’s air quality by increasing the share of public transport utilization, thereby reducing emissions from private vehicles.
Another expected benefit from the project is a reduction in road traffic congestion. The efficient multimodal transport system will connect Delhi-NCR via road, rail and air, providing residents and visitors with more transit options and potentially reducing the reliance on private vehicles.
Aravalli Biodiversity Park: Preserving Delhi’s Natural Heritage
Covering an expansive 699 acres of land near Vasant Vihar in South Delhi, the Aravalli Biodiversity Park is a crucial part of the city’s natural assets. However, past mining activities have highly degraded the area and it has become infested with Prosopis juliflora, an invasive shrub species.
The park’s primary aim is to restore and preserve the lost biodiversity of the Delhi Aravallis. Additionally, the park serves as a centre for promoting nature education among students and creating environmental awareness among the general public. Another important contribution of the park is its role in preserving the threatened medicinal plants of the Aravallis. The construction of the RRTS corridor under the park is to be carried out with minimum disruption to these conservation efforts.
