Delhi is having extravagant & unhealthy obsession with palm trees

Palm trees have become an extravagant and irrational obsession in Delhi in the past two decades. The imprint of palms is not limited to roads and private developments-it extends into Delhi's most carefully preserved historical sites as well. In the Mehrauli Archaeological Park, built around the Qutab Minar, palm trees now line the walkways. For conservation architect Ratish Nanda, head of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, India, who played a key role in restoring Humayun's Tomb and developing Sunder Nursery, the presence of palm trees is largely inherited rather than intentional. "At Humayun's Tomb, there are four palms at each corner that were already there. They frame the monument in a certain way, so we have simply maintained them. We haven't introduced any new palms," he said. Similar examples can be seen at Lodhi Garden, where royal palms stand near the tomb of Mohammad Shah Sayyid. Nanda added that most of these palms date back to the British era, even at Humayun's Tomb. Some date palms exist within the Sunder Nursery and the Humayun's Tomb complex, but these, too, are legacy plantations believed to have been planted between the 1920s and 1960s. Nanda said that are extremely slow-growing. He also talked about future plans to introduce palms inside a greenhouse setting in Sundar Nursery, adding that such an arrangement would be controlled and context-specific rather than part of the open landscape.