India, April 6 -- Delhi is all set to carry out its first official full-fledged census to assess and tag trees in the Capital, with the Centre releasing Rs.2.9 crores to the Forest Research Institute (FRI) for the exercise, officials aware of the matter said. The exercise will be carried out over a period of four years in three phases and is expected to commence soon.

While conducting a tree census for the entire city is mandated under the Delhi Preservation of Trees Act 1994, an official census has never taken place since the act was notified. In December 2024, the Supreme Court had asked the Delhi Tree Authority (DTA) to carry out a tree census in the capital. It had eventually asked FRI in Dehradun to oversee the census.

Providing de...