Sanjay Van is a sprawling city forest area near

Vasant Kunj Vasant Kunj is a neighbourhood located in New Delhi district of Indian union territory of Delhi. The area is home to several businessmen, actors, cricketers and the former prime minister of India, Manmohan Singh. It is located close to Indira ...

and

Mehrauli Mehrauli is a neighbourhood in South Delhi, Delhi, India. It represents a constituency in the legislative assembly of Delhi. The area is close to Gurugram and next to Vasant Kunj. History Mehrauli is one of the seven medieval cities that ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It is spread over an area of 443

acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

s. It is one of the most thickly wooded areas of the city’s green lungs.

Concerns

The forest, which is part of the Mehrauli South Central Ridge, has undergone severe degradation in recent times with the proliferation of the ''

Prosopis juliflora ''Neltuma juliflora '' (, ''Cuji'' in Venezuela, ''Trupillo'' in Colombia, ''Aippia'' in the Wayuunaiki language and long-thorn kiawe in Hawaii), formerly ''Prosopis juliflora'', is a shrub or small tree in the family Fabaceae, a kind of mesquit ...

'' tree which is non-endemic to the

Aravalli Range The Aravalli Range (also spelled ''Aravali'') is a mountain range in North India, Northern-Western India, running approximately in a south-west direction, starting near Delhi, passing through southern Haryana and Rajasthan, and ending in Ahme ...

s and has caused depletion of the ground water level, killing native flora and changing the natural soil characteristics of the Aravallis. Sewage water and effluent which is discharged into Sanjay Van has also affected this green belt in the Capital.

Restoration Work

Amid a growing demand from nature lovers, the forest is going to be made a bird sanctuary. The Sanjay Van, which is presently undergoing restoration through a unique collaborative effort between the

Delhi Development Authority The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is a statutory body established under the Delhi Development Act, 1957, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India to "promote and secure the development of Del ...

and a citizen's group, may well serve as a model that will be replicated to restore other ridges in the capital.

Attractions

Apart from heritage, the area is one of the few recluses for bird watchers and nature enthusiasts. Resident or visiting birds include the

Indian peafowl The Indian peafowl (''Pavo cristatus''), also known as the common peafowl, or blue peafowl, is a peafowl species native to the Indian subcontinent. While it originated in the Indian subcontinent, it has since been introduced to many other part ...

grey heron The grey heron (''Ardea cinerea'') is a long-legged wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia, and also parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more norther ...

Eurasian golden oriole The Eurasian golden oriole (''Oriolus oriolus''), also called the common golden oriole, is the only member of the Old World oriole family of passerine birds breeding in Northern Hemisphere temperate regions. It is a summer bird migration, migrant ...

purple sunbird The purple sunbird (''Cinnyris asiaticus'') is a small bird in the sunbird family. It occurs in parts of the Arabian peninsula and South and Southeast Asia. It has a fast and direct flight and can take nectar by hovering like a hummingbird but of ...

Asian koel The Asian koel (''Eudynamys scolopaceus'') is a member of the cuckoo family of birds, the Cuculidae. It is found in the Indian Subcontinent, Pakistan, China, and Southeast Asia. It forms a superspecies with the closely related black-billed koels ...

Brahminy starling The brahminy starling or brahminy myna (''Sturnia pagodarum)'' is a member of the starling family of birds. It is usually seen in pairs or small flocks in open habitats on the plains of the Indian subcontinent. Taxonomy The brahminy starling was S ...

Indian silverbill The Indian silverbill or white-throated munia (''Euodice malabarica'') is a small passerine bird found in the Indian Subcontinent and adjoining regions that was formerly considered to include the closely related African silverbill (''Euodice cant ...

grey-breasted prinia The grey-breasted prinia or Franklin's prinia (''Prinia hodgsonii'') is a wren-warbler belonging to the family of small passerine birds found mainly in warmer southern regions of the Old World. This prinia is a resident breeder in the Indian subc ...

crested honey buzzard The crested honey buzzard (''Pernis ptilorhynchus'') is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal Bird of prey, raptors such as kite (bird), kites, eagles, and harrier (bird), harriers. ''Pernis ptilorhynchu ...

white-throated kingfisher The white-throated kingfisher (''Halcyon smyrnensis'') also known as the white-breasted kingfisher is a tree kingfisher, widely distributed in Asia from the Sinai east through the Indian subcontinent to China and Indonesia. This kingfisher is a ...

rufous treepie The rufous treepie (''Dendrocitta vagabunda'') is a treepie, native to the Indian Subcontinent and adjoining parts of Southeast Asia. It is a member of the crow family, Corvidae. It is long tailed and has loud musical calls making it very conspi ...

Indian paradise flycatcher The Indian paradise flycatcher (''Terpsiphone paradisi'') is a medium-sized passerine bird native to Asia, where it is widely distributed. As the global population is considered stable, it has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List sin ...

Eurasian sparrowhawk The Eurasian sparrowhawk (''Accipiter nisus''), also known as the northern sparrowhawk or simply the sparrowhawk, is a small bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. Adult male Eurasian sparrowhawks have bluish grey upperparts and orange-barred ...

red-wattled lapwing The red-wattled lapwing (''Vanellus indicus'') is an Asian lapwing or large plover, a wader in the family Charadriidae. Like other lapwings they are ground birds that are incapable of perching. Their characteristic loud alarm calls are indicat ...

cattle egret The cattle egret (formerly genus ''Bubulcus'') is a cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan clade of heron (family (biology), family Ardeidae) in the genus ''Ardea (genus), Ardea'' found in the tropics, subtropics, and warm-temperate zones. Ac ...

common moorhen The common moorhen (''Gallinula chloropus''), also known as the waterhen, is a bird species in the Rail (bird), rail family (Rallidae). It is distributed across many parts of the Old World, across Africa, Europe, and Asia. It lives around well-ve ...

white-breasted waterhen The white-breasted waterhen (''Amaurornis phoenicurus'') is a waterbird of the rail and crake family, Rallidae, that is widely distributed across South and Southeast Asia. They are dark slaty birds with a clean white face, breast and belly. The ...

grey francolin The grey francolin (''Ortygornis pondicerianus'') is a species of francolin found in the plains and drier parts of the Indian subcontinent and Iran. This species was formerly also called the grey partridge, not to be confused with the European gr ...

and the

Jacobin cuckoo The Jacobin cuckoo (''Clamator jacobinus''), also pied cuckoo or pied crested cuckoo, is a member of the cuckoo order of birds that is found in Africa and Asia. It is partially migratory and in India, it has been considered a harbinger of the mons ...

, a migrant from Africa that breeds in this forest. The forest also conserves natural habitat for the

nilgai The nilgai (''Boselaphus tragocamelus'') (, literally meaning "blue cow") is the largest antelope of Asia, and is ubiquitous across the northern Indian subcontinent. It is the sole member of the genus (biology), genus ''Boselaphus'', which was ...

golden jackal The golden jackal (''Canis aureus''), also called the common jackal, is a wolf-like canid that is native to Eurasia. The golden jackal's coat varies in color from a pale creamy yellow in summer to a dark tawny beige in winter. It is smaller a ...

snakes Snakes are elongated Limbless vertebrate, limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales much like other members of ...

and a large variety of

butterflies Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

Terrain

As the land is a part of

it shows all the characteristics of the same. Some areas have flat lands some have uphills and downhills. The whole area is full of big giant rocks forming a small hill every here and there. It has got some small drains spreading all over the areas which can be seen in every 300-400 meters of a walk. Overall we can say it has got a terrain of forest and hills.

Visit

There are multiple entry and exit points, but the ones at the Qutub Institutional Area and Neela Hauz Bridge near Vasant Kunj provide the easiest access and least confusion. Visitors are advised to wear shoes and full-length trousers as protection against the thorny shrubbery, and to take sufficient fluids and snacks, as there is no kiosk or shop in the quiet of the woods.

References