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The High Court has asked the city’s Department of Forests and Wildlife to furnish details on the status and extent of encroachment in the Central Ridge area and Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary.
In its order dated January 11, the court told the Delhi government to file an affidavit with the details.
The court was hearing a PIL plea initiated by itself in 2015.
Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected area located in the southern part of Delhi.
It is a remnant of the once extensive Delhi Ridge, a range of hills that once stretched across the northern part of the Indian subcontinent.
The sanctuary is home to a variety of flora and fauna, including leopards, jackals, deer, and over 200 species of birds.
Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has declared an area of 1km around the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary in Gurugram and Faridabad as Eco-sensitive zone.
Activities such as commercial mining, setting up of industries, and establishment of major hydro-electric projects will be prohibited.
The Asola wildlife sanctuary has both floral and faunal diversity in form of wide variety of trees, shrubs, herbs and grasses.
Large number of mammals, reptiles, amphibians, butterflies and dragonflies.
Sanctuary comprises of Around 200 species of resident and migratory birds.
Wildlife habitats inside the sanctuary act as water recharge zone for Delhi, Faridabad and Gurugram.
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