GMRL seeks nod to fell 414 trees for metro work

The Gurugram Metro Rail Limited (GMRL) has sought permission to fell 414 trees for the construction of Phase two of the metro corridor from Sector 9 to Cyber City, officials said on Wednesday

The Gurugram Metro Rail Limited (GMRL) has sought permission to fell 414 trees for the construction of Phase two of the metro corridor from Sector 9 to Cyber City, officials said on Wednesday.

According to officials, the metro authority asked the Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) to seek permission from the forest department for the tree felling.

According to officials, the metro authority asked the Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) to seek permission from the forest department for the tree felling.

A letter written by GMRL on September 29 stated, “... an inventory of trees falling within the proposed metro alignment under the jurisdiction of HSVP has been prepared. It is, therefore, requested that the statutory approval process for tree felling may kindly be initiated with the concerned forest department authorities on behalf of GMRL, to facilitate timely execution of the project works.”

The trees which have been identified by the consultant appointed by the metro authority are located in the green belts along sector roads, and include neem trees, bargad, champa, bakain, peepal, kikar, pilkhan, sangwan, sheesham, jamun, babool, kadam, kaner, shahtoot, siris, papari and others, officials said.

The metro authority had earlier obtained permission for felling 1,800 trees for phase one of the metro corridor.

A senior GMRL official said they have already taken steps to plant trees to compensate for the trees felled for the construction of phase one metro project, and they will take up compensatory afforestation for phase two as per norms. “The plantation of trees has been taken up along KMP Expressway in phases,” he said.