Chanakyapuri.

Just short of Sadar Bazar, the hills disappear only to surface again near the Barafkhana, where the road climbs steeply past the Mutiny Memorial to Hindu Rao Hospital.

The Ridge finally peters out in a gentle bluff near Wazirabad to the north.

The region is divided into four distinct zones.About 6,200 hectares of the Southern Ridge, which extends beyond the city limits, towards Haryana includes 1,900 hectare of the recently notified Asola Wildlife Sanctuary.

Central Ridge lies within the heart of the city and is approximately 869 hectares.

The south central Ridge 626 hectare in extent, includes the Kishangarh forest or Sanjay Van, one of the best preserved patches of forest in Delhi .

The smallest section, the 87 hectare northern Ridge lies like an emerald scimitar between Civil Lines and the UniversityCampus in north Delhi .

Delhi has not treated the ridge with half the care it deserve. Large swathes of the Ridge have been lost, beginning in the second half of the 19th century when precincts such as Paharganj and Paharipur were leveled. But the great dismantling of the Ridge took place after Independence, especially since the 1970s, as the population swelled and new suburbs pushed south of the new capital city.

THE RIDGE for administrative reasons is divided into 4 separate zones whose boundaries and legal status, to state it plainly, are in a horrible mess. But the zones are still useful in thinking about and exploring the Ridge.

The OLD DELHI or NORTHERN RIDGE denotes the hilly area near Delhi University and is by far the smallest segment of