India, Dec. 12 -- The Centre's reconstitution of the Delhi Ridge Management Board (DRMB) and grant of statutory powers - following a Supreme Court directive - is a fresh attempt to protect the national Capital's "green lungs". To be sure, the Ridge Management Board has been around since 1995, but has always lacked the teeth needed to ensure the area remains protected. With multiple authorities vested with jurisdiction over the area, the Ridge eventually became nobody's baby. As a result, nearly 5% of the area has already been encroached upon. Making DRMB the single window for Ridge governance, including clearances and permissions for development projects, should address lingering problems. The importance of the Delhi Ridge - including the Morphological Ridge - can't be overstated. Apart from its ecological value in terms of biodiversity, it filters out toxic pollutants from Delhi's air to a considerable extent. It aids temperature regulation and checks desertification by blocking hot, dry winds from the west and south-west. It also plays an important role in recharging groundwater in the national Capital. But protection for this vital region has moved far too slowly - against more than 7,700 hectares of identified area, just 103 hectares has been notified as protected forests. So, while 4% of the Ridge area has already been diverted to non-forest use, just over 1.3% has been notified as protected forest. A centralised approach to Ridge protection could help check this - especially when it can override the jurisdictions of a clutch of authorities, some of which have actively felled trees in the area. A quick reclamation of the land lost to encroachment would be in order. But, all this depends on enforcement powers - experts believe this has not been made explicit, with only a general direction to national capital authorities to aid the discharge of duties by the DRMB. This needs to be corrected if the granting of statutory powers to the body is to prove meaningful....