The Gurugram Metro Rail (GMRL) has sought permission to fell 414 trees for the construction of Phase 2 of the metro corridor between Sector 9 and Cyber City, officials said on Wednesday. The proposed corridor is part of the authority’s planned expansion of metro services in Gurugram.

GMRL has asked the Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) to initiate the approval process with the forest department. The request follows an inventory prepared by a consultant appointed by the metro authority, which identified trees located within the proposed alignment and under HSVP’s jurisdiction.

The trees stand mainly in green belts along roads in various sectors. The identified species include neem, bargad, champa, bakain, peepal, kikar, pilkhan, sangwan, sheesham, jamun, babool, kadam, kaner, shahtoot, siris and papari, among others. GMRL has said the statutory permissions are required to facilitate timely execution of the project works.

The authority floated a tender on Monday for construction of the metro track and 13 stations along the Phase 2 corridor. The estimated cost of the tender is Rs. 16.62 bn. The project is expected to connect key residential, commercial and institutional areas between Sector 9 and Cyber City.

GMRL had earlier obtained permission to fell 1,800 trees for Phase 1 of the metro corridor. A senior official said the authority had already begun compensatory plantation for the trees removed during the first phase, with plantations being carried out in stages along the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway.

The official said GMRL would undertake compensatory afforestation for Phase 2 in accordance with applicable norms. The permission process will involve review by the relevant forest authorities before tree felling can begin. The proposed work is therefore dependent on statutory clearance and coordination between GMRL, HSVP and the forest department.