NDMC develops 'Bharat Van' Miyawaki forest in Lodhi Colony
The New Delhi Municipal Council is developing a one-acre urban forest named 'Bharat Van' in Lodhi Colony using the Miyawaki method, with around 10,000 indigenous plants, vice-chairman Kuljeet Singh Chahal said. The site will also have spaces for yoga, meditation and other recreational activities. Fruit-bearing and shade-giving species suited to Delhi's climate have been selected. The project is being developed with guidance from environmentalist R K Nair. The civic body calls it New Delhi's first Miyawaki forest.
Source
Hindustan Times — India · read the original report ↗
Desk check · compared with the source
What the desk checked (5)
- NDMC is developing a one-acre urban forest, 'Bharat Van', in Lodhi Colony with about 10,000 indigenous plants. — Attributed to NDMC and vice-chairman Kuljeet Singh Chahal; figure appears consistently in source.
- NDMC calls it New Delhi's first Miyawaki forest plantation. — Attributed to the civic body, not independently established in the source.
- The project is guided by environmentalist R K Nair, co-founder of the Enviro Creators Foundation. — Stated in source without direct quote from Nair.
- A 2020 Union environment ministry plantation near the CAG building at ITO had 59 species and over 12,000 saplings. — Figures appear in source; no document cited.
- Two Miyawaki forests announced in southwest Delhi in 2025 involved nearly 350,000 native saplings over about seven hectares. — Attributed to the government in the source.
Analysts’ view opinion
A one-acre urban forest is not normally big political news — but the name 'Bharat Van', the Lodhi Colony location and the fact that the NDMC vice-chairman himself announced the details give this project clear symbolic weight. With air quality and green cover now permanent political issues in Delhi, the Miyawaki method — fast, visible results on very little land — is an attractive 'delivery' story for whoever is in charge. Yet as the story itself notes, such plantations are hardly new to Delhi, so this reads less as a new policy and more as fresh branding on an existing trend.
- Naming it 'Bharat Van' is a branding choice with national-symbolic resonance, not merely a park label, and such names tend to serve the political messaging of the incumbent side.
- The story shows NDMC, MCD, the Delhi environment department and the Union environment ministry have all done Miyawaki projects — a visible competition for credit on green work across agencies and tiers of government.
- That an elected office-holder delivered the announcement, and that NDMC frames it as 'New Delhi's first', pushes the project from routine civic work towards political showcase.
- Adding yoga and meditation spaces widens the pitch from environment to lifestyle and cultural appeal, which can broaden the constituency the project speaks to.
- The story's mention that experts have cautioned against Miyawaki patches in the Ridge gives critics a ready-made line of attack on future projects of this kind.
What to watch — Watch who inaugurates it, whether rival agencies respond with their own 'Van' announcements, and whether opposition voices start questioning sapling survival rates and maintenance.
The story establishes nothing about cost, timelines, maintenance plans or any political controversy around this specific project; the political motive read here is contextual analysis, not a reported fact.
Deep dive
Research brief · 8 facts · 3 dates · exam-readyThe brief
Context
The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) is creating a one-acre urban forest called 'Bharat Van' in Lodhi Colony using the Miyawaki plantation method, which it describes as New Delhi's first such plantation. The Miyawaki method, pioneered by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki, packs a large number of native species closely together in a small area to grow dense vegetation faster than conventional plantations. The technique has gained traction in Delhi because land for large green spaces is scarce. Several Miyawaki patches already exist in the capital, developed by civic agencies, government departments and NGOs.
Key facts
- NDMC is developing 'Bharat Van', a one-acre urban forest in Lodhi Colony, using the Miyawaki plantation methodology.
- Around 10,000 indigenous plants are being planted at the site, NDMC vice-chairman Kuljeet Singh Chahal said.
- The site will also have spaces for yoga, meditation and other recreational activities.
- Fruit-bearing and shade-giving species suited to Delhi's climate have been selected, officials said.
- The project is being developed with guidance and support from environmentalist R K Nair, co-founder of the Enviro Creators Foundation.
- The Union environment ministry developed a Miyawaki plantation in 2020 near the CAG building at ITO with 59 species and more than 12,000 saplings, inaugurated by then minister Prakash Javadekar.
- The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has developed more than 15 Miyawaki forests across the city, according to officials.
- In 2025, Delhi environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa announced two Miyawaki forests in southwest Delhi at Kharkhari Jatmal and Jainpur, involving nearly 350,000 native saplings over around seven hectares.
Timeline
- 2020Union environment ministry develops a Miyawaki plantation near the CAG building at ITO with 59 species and over 12,000 saplings; inaugurated by then Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar.
- 2025Delhi environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa announces two Miyawaki forests in southwest Delhi at Kharkhari Jatmal and Jainpur with nearly 350,000 native saplings over about seven hectares.
- Current (date not stated in the source)NDMC develops 'Bharat Van' on one acre in Lodhi Colony with around 10,000 indigenous plants, calling it New Delhi's first Miyawaki forest plantation.
Who has a stake
- New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) — Executing agency for Bharat Van; aims to raise green cover and biodiversity within its limited land area.
- Kuljeet Singh Chahal, NDMC vice-chairman — Public face of the project; announced the 10,000 indigenous plants and explained the Miyawaki approach.
- R K Nair, environmentalist and co-founder, Enviro Creators Foundation — Provides technical guidance and support for the plantation's design and execution.
- Residents of Lodhi Colony and New Delhi area — Gain a dense green patch plus yoga, meditation and recreational spaces; benefit from shade and cleaner surroundings.
- Municipal Corporation of Delhi and Delhi government — Have already built more than 15 Miyawaki forests (MCD) and announced large projects in southwest Delhi; shape the city's green-cover strategy.
- Environmental experts — Have cautioned against setting up Miyawaki forest patches in the Ridge area.
Why it matters
Delhi has very little land left for conventional large parks, so dense small-footprint plantations like Miyawaki forests have become a preferred tool for adding green cover, shade and bird habitat. Bharat Van shows a civic body combining ecology with public recreation on just one acre. But expert caution against Miyawaki patches in the Ridge signals that the method is not universally suitable and site selection matters.
UPSC angle
Prelims pointers
- Miyawaki method: pioneered by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki; dense planting of native species in a small area for faster growth.
- 'Bharat Van': one-acre NDMC urban forest in Lodhi Colony with about 10,000 indigenous plants; called New Delhi's first Miyawaki plantation.
- Enviro Creators Foundation: NGO co-founded by environmentalist R K Nair, guiding the NDMC project.
- 2020 ITO Miyawaki plantation near the CAG building: 59 species, over 12,000 saplings, by the Union environment ministry.
- 2025: Two Miyawaki forests announced at Kharkhari Jatmal and Jainpur in southwest Delhi — nearly 3.5 lakh saplings over about seven hectares.
- MCD has developed more than 15 Miyawaki forests in Delhi, per officials.
Mains framing
Delhi's green-cover expansion is constrained by acute land scarcity, pushing civic agencies toward the Miyawaki method — dense close planting of indigenous species that creates vegetation faster than conventional plantations. NDMC's one-acre 'Bharat Van' in Lodhi Colony, with about 10,000 indigenous plants and spaces for yoga, meditation and recreation, illustrates how ecological restoration is being merged with urban public amenity, guided by civil-society expertise (R K Nair of the Enviro Creators Foundation). The approach is already widespread: the Union environment ministry's 2020 ITO plantation (59 species, 12,000-plus saplings), more than 15 MCD-built forests, and the 2025 southwest Delhi projects with nearly 350,000 saplings over seven hectares. Yet scale is not the same as ecological fit — experts have cautioned against Miyawaki patches in the Ridge, where the native ecosystem differs. The way forward lies in careful site selection, use of climate-appropriate fruit-bearing and shade-giving native species, and sustained care and maintenance, which Chahal himself identifies as the condition for dense cover to develop, so that such forests deliver lasting biodiversity gains rather than one-time plantation numbers.
Key terms
- Miyawaki method
- Plantation technique by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki: many native species planted close together in a small area to grow dense vegetation quickly.
- Urban forest
- A dense green patch created within a city to support trees, plants and birds and improve local biodiversity.
- NDMC
- New Delhi Municipal Council, the civic body developing Bharat Van in Lodhi Colony.
- Indigenous/native species
- Plants naturally occurring in the region; at Bharat Van, fruit-bearing and shade-giving species suited to Delhi's climate.
- Enviro Creators Foundation
- Organisation co-founded by environmentalist R K Nair, providing guidance for the NDMC plantation.
- Delhi Ridge
- Delhi area where experts have cautioned against creating Miyawaki forest patches.
Practice questions
- Discuss the potential and limitations of the Miyawaki method as a tool for expanding green cover in land-scarce Indian cities, using Delhi as an example.
- How can urban local bodies balance ecological restoration with recreational use of public land? Illustrate with the NDMC's 'Bharat Van' project.
- Why have experts cautioned against Miyawaki plantations in ecologically sensitive areas such as the Delhi Ridge? Examine the importance of site selection in urban afforestation.
Grounded only in the source report — figures and dates are the source's, not inferred.