On World Environment Day, June 5, Delhi’s Chief Minister Rekha Gupta inaugurated “Namo Oxygen Parks” at Maidangarhi. A total of 185.5 acres of land throughout 18 parks are covered under this initiative, where they will be developed as green zones and a place where indigenous, environmentally beneficial species such as peepal, banyan, jamun and mango trees will be planted.
“The Delhi government has set an ambitious target of planting 70 lakh trees and saplings this year. The objective is not merely plantation but ensuring 100% survival through geo-tagging and proper maintenance.” Rekha Gupta said. However, questions have emerged over whether the initiative is entirely new or largely overlaps with a court-mandated afforestation programme.
The controversy can be traced back to the Delhi Ridge tree-felling case dating to May 2024, which came before the Supreme Court after around 1,100 trees were allegedly felled in the Southern Ridge area, which serves as the ultimate environmental lifeline for the National Capital Region (NCR) and Delhi. The felling was for a road-widening project linked to the Central Armed Police Forces Institute of Medical Sciences (CAPFIMS). The Court found that the felling had taken place without obtaining the necessary permissions and initiated contempt proceedings against officials of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA). In its judgment dated 28 May 2025, the Supreme Court held DDA officials guilty of contempt and directed extensive compensatory afforestation measures to restore the ecological damage caused by the tree loss.
According to the Supreme Court judgment, the restoration exercise was to be carried out under judicial supervision through a large-scale plantation programme. Subsequent DDA status reports filed before the Court proposed afforestation across 18 land parcels covering nearly 185 acres, with approximately 1.67 lakh saplings to be planted. The Court later approved the afforestation plan and sought periodic compliance reports from the DDA and the Delhi Forest Department.
The overlap between the court-approved afforestation plan and the Namo Oxygen Parks initiative has raised questions among journalists and environmental activists. Both programmes involve 18 sites spread across roughly 185 acres. Media Reports done by PeekTV and Times Of India examining DDA filings and court records found that several of the locations inaugurated as Namo Oxygen Parks correspond with land parcels identified for compensatory afforestation in the aftermath of the Supreme Court proceedings. The connection became more apparent after a DDA status report referred to the plantation exercise as part of compliance with the Court’s directions.
Environmental activist Bhavreen Kandhari, who was among the first to publicly raise questions about the project, argued that the branding of the parks obscures their origins. “Calling these parks a new environmental achievement is misleading. This was a penalty and a restoration measure,” she said.
Government officials, however, maintain that the initiative forms part of a broader environmental agenda. At the inauguration event, CM Gupta said the previous government had not shown the required rigour in addressing the growing pollution problem over the years, whereas the present government has placed environmental protection among its highest priorities.
Field biologists note that while newly planted saplings begin producing oxygen within weeks, they may take between two and five years, depending on the species, to deliver broader ecological benefits such as temperature regulation, biodiversity support and a meaningful increase in green cover.
This leaves a question about the initiative, whether trees are being planted as an independent program or compensatory afforestation mandated by the Supreme Court. The extent of overlap between the two programmes will remain a matter of public interest and scrutiny until further reports from the supreme court proceedings become public and an on ground report of reviewing the 18 zones with the court assigned areas are done.