E-book maps 243 heritage structures across Delhi Ridge
Delhi residents now have a single digital resource to explore 243 geo-coordinated heritage structures scattered across the city’s Ridge area. The Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu launched an e-book titled “Exploring the Delhi Ridge, Reviving the Heritage of Lungs of Delhi” in collaboration with INTACH Delhi Chapter on Friday.
The launch took place during a Heritage Walk Sandhu led at Sanjay Van, aimed at highlighting Delhi’s natural and built heritage and strengthening public engagement with its historic legacy. South Delhi MP Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, Mehrauli MLA Gajender Yadav, DDA Vice Chairman N Saravana Kumar, and around 200 heritage and nature enthusiasts took part.
The walk covered the Small Fortification, Large Fortification and the historic Lalkot Wall at Sanjay Van, with Swapna Liddle, Advisor at INTACH Delhi Chapter, guiding participants and explaining the history, architecture and significance of the conserved structures, giving citizens a rare chance to experience Delhi’s heritage within its natural setting.
For ordinary visitors to the Ridge, the e-book’s practical value lies in its design for on-ground use. The publication integrates eight heritage trails across the Ridge area with QR-enabled interpretation and digital maps, so visitors can scan codes at heritage sites while walking the trails and instantly access photographs and researched narratives about what they are seeing. The e-book brings together monuments across the Northern, Central, South Central and Southern Ridge zones in one comprehensive resource.
Alongside the e-book, DDA has prepared an “Inventory of Built Heritage Sites, Ridges of Delhi,” documenting all 243 geo-coordinated heritage structures across the Ridge and combining scholarship, documentation, and digital technology to make this heritage more accessible to the public than before.
Officials said the e-book represents a pioneering effort at the pan-India level, with QR-coded content integrated with on-site signage and digital maps, allowing visitors to connect what they see on the trail with detailed information on their phones in real time.
The initiative reflects a shared commitment between DDA and INTACH Delhi Chapter to document the city’s heritage and make information about its historic structures more accessible to residents who may walk past these sites regularly without knowing their significance.
This builds on a week-long Heritage Week recently organised by DDA, which used art, culture and heritage awareness activities to connect people, particularly youth, with Delhi’s historical legacy, encouraging greater participation and a stronger connection with the city’s cultural and historical identity.
Friday’s walk and e-book launch mark the latest step in DDA’s broader effort to conserve Delhi’s heritage while making it more accessible to ordinary citizens. As Delhi continues to develop as a modern, sustainable and inclusive capital, DDA said it remains focused on preserving the city’s historical legacy while enhancing its green public spaces, an approach intended to ensure growth respects heritage and supports the ecological character of the Ridge.
For residents and visitors alike, the combination of marked trails, QR codes and a dedicated digital inventory offers a direct, self-guided way to explore sites that have long existed within the Ridge but remained largely undocumented or inaccessible to the general public until now.
