Geography of Delhi

Delhi is situated in the extreme north of India and is covered by the Punjab and Haryana states in its north, south and west borders, whereas it is covered by Uttar Pradesh towards its east. In the earlier days, when the British reigned over the place, Delhi belonged to the province of Punjab. Even today, the history and culture of Delhi are heavily borrowed from Punjab. There are two main geographical indicators in Delhi. One is the Yamuna flood plains and the other is the Delhi Ridge. Yamuna, which is considered by Hindus as a very sacred river is the only important river of Delhi. It provides the base for agriculture in the nearby states as well, however, unfortunately, in the recent past the flood plains of Yamuna River are heavily prone to floods. There is another small river, named Hindon which distinguishes Ghaziabad from Delhi’s eastern region. The Delhi Ridge is a tall structure that is of 318m height. It starts towards the south of Delhi at the Aravalli mountain ranges and it runs across the west, north east and northwest areas of the city.

The Delhi Territory has around 1484 sq.km of land in which the rural and urban areas almost form equal portions of 700 and 783sq.km respectively. In terms of number of trees, Delhi ranks third in India and in terms of population, Delhi was ranked tenth in the world in the 1990s. A survey found out that a whopping 70% of air pollution was due to toxic gas emission from automobiles. Therefore an initiative was undertaken in which it was decided that all vehicles must use compressed natural gas for operations. Therefore in 2003, Delhi was chosen as the first recipient of the award “Clean cities international partner award” by the Department of Energy, United States for all the efforts undertaken to mitigate air pollution.

Delhi falls under Seismic IV Zone of the country, which makes it an easy target during earthquakes. However, in the recent past, there has been no instance where an earthquake was reported here.

Location of Delhi

Delhi that is around 33 miles long and 30 miles broad is situated at somewhere between 213 and 305m above sea level. It has a total area sq. km of 1483. It stands at the centre of the Indian subcontinent and is ably supported by the Himalayas and Aravalli mountains on both sides.

A majority of the city is populated on the western side where the River Yamuna is located. This is the main river that flows in Delhi. There are also 3 important canals in Delhi and these are the Agra, Hindou and Western Yamuna canals. Geographically, Delhi is also divided into three different areas: the Yamuna Flood Plains, the Delhi Ridge and The Plain. The first one, that is the Yamuna Flood Plains are also known as Khadar. These plains lie quite low and more susceptible to floods.

The Delhi Ridge is 318m tall and starts at the Aravalli mountain ranges towards the south of the city. From here, it goes around the city in the north western and western directions. The Tughlaquabad Fort that is found here on the topmost part of the ridge is a huge tourist attraction.

The Plain is also known as Bangar and this place covers all those areas that are not covered by the Yamuna Flood Plains and the Delhi Ridge. Most of Delhi, New Delhi and Delhi Cantonment fall under t The Plains category, as the land is quite fertile and rich here.

Geographical Division of Delhi

The entire area of Delhi is spread out on 14848sq.km. There are three municipal corporations, one municipal council and one cantonment in Delhi. The details are given below:

• Central, Northern, North Western and Western Delhi fall under the Municipal Corporation of Delhi
• Southern and South Western Delhi fall under the New Delhi Municipal Committee
• Eastern and North Eastern Delhi fall under the Delhi Cantonment Board
• Entire New Delhi District falls under the New Delhi Municipal Council
• Certain areas of South Western Delhi fall under the Delhi Cantonment.

28.61°N 77.23°E describes the exact geographical definition of Delhi. It touches upon the states of Punjab and Haryana in the west and Uttar Pradesh in the east. Yamuna River, which is the major river of Delhi, brings in more beauty to the place. In terms of number of trees, Delhi stands third in the country.

There are 9 districts in the Territory of the National Capital which are explained below:

• Central Delhi – Darya Ganj, Pahar Ganj and Karol Bagh are the three main areas here. It runs across the Yamuna, North, West, South West and East Delhi. As per 2011, it had around 578,671 people.
• North Delhi – As per 2011, this area had 883,418 people and it runs across the Yamuna, some parts of West, North West, Central and North East Delhi.
• South Delhi – As per 2011, it had a dense population of 2,733,752 people and it covers the areas of Yamuna, North Delhi, districts of Faridabad and Gurgaon of Haryana and south western areas of Delhi.
• East Delhi – As per 2011, this area had 1,707,725 people and it covers the areas of Yamuna, districts of Ghaziabad and Gautama Buddha Nagar of Uttar Pradesh and North eastern Delhi.
• North East Delhi – As per 2011, the population in this area was 2,240,749 and it covers areas of Yamuna, Ghaziabad, eastern and north Delhi.
• South East Delhi – As per 2011, the population in this area was 2,292,363 and it covers the areas of West, Central, New Delhi and Delhi, and the districts of Gurgaon and Jhajjar of Haryana
• New Delhi – As per 2011, the population in this area was 249,998 and it was set up in the year 1931, 13th Feb by Lord Irwin. The entire planning of the city was taken care of by Sir Edwin Lutyens and Sir Herbert Baker.
• North West Delhi – As per 2011, this area had 3,651,261 people in it and it covers the areas of Yamuna, parts of North and West Delhi, districts of Jhajjar and Sonipat of Haryana and Ghaziabad district of UP.
• West Delhi - As per 2011, this area had 2,531,583 people in it and it covers the areas of north west, north, central and south west Delhi and Haryana’s Jhajjar district.

The Delhi Ridge that is formed at the base of the Aravalli Mountain ranges serves as a firm protector of the Territory of the National capital as it reduces the impact of hot waves blowing from Rajasthan. This Ridge is categorized into 4 zones.

• Northern Ridge, also known as Old Delhi
• Central Ridge, also known as New Delhi
• South Central Ridge, also known as The Mehrauli
• Southern Ridge, also known as the Tughlaqabad