1,091 trees to be moved, felled: Delhi Government nod clears way for Sarojini Nagar housing project

After months of site inspections and a review by the Union Central Empowered Committee (CEC), the Delhi government’s Department of Forests and Wildlife has given a nod to the NBCC (India) Limited to make way for the redevelopment of Sarojini Nagar’s General Pool Residential Accommodation (GPRA) Colony by felling or transplanting 1,091 trees, The Indian Express has learnt.

The number of affected trees was reduced through a multi-stage review process before a final approval, said officials. The original count of 1,218 was first brought down to 1,170 after the Tree Officer concerned carried out a site inspection and refined the list, saving 48 trees. The matter was then referred to the CEC, which, in its order dated May 11, 2026, saved a further 79 trees, bringing the final figure to 1,091. The final nod came on June 19, said sources.

While NBCC (India) Limited is a public sector undertaking operating under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), the CEC is a statutory body operating under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change set up by the Supreme Court.

This redevelopment project in Sarojini Nagar is part of a larger Central government initiative approved by the Union Cabinet in July 2016 for the overhaul of seven ageing GPRA colonies in the Capital.

Among these seven colonies, Netaji Nagar and Nauroji Nagar, and Sarojini Nagar were assigned to NBCC (India) Limited for redevelopment, while Kasturba Nagar, Thyagraj Nagar, Srinivaspuri and Mohammadpur were handed to the Central Public Works Department (CPWD), which also operates under MoHUA . The plan envisages replacing roughly 12,970 old Type I to IV government flats with over 21,000 modern units, along with new office space, using a self-financing model in which commercial development along stretches such as the Ring Road helps fund the housing construction.

Image Source: Delhi Urban Art Commission (2020)

Sarojini Nagar is among the largest areas being covered in this programme, with the colony’s redevelopment covering both large-scale residential towers and a planned commercial hub named Bharat Business Park.

What are GPRA colonies?

The GPRA colonies — that date back to the 1940s — were built to house Central government staff, and have long been administered by the Directorate of Estates. Officials have pointed to a persistent shortage of government housing in the National Capital Region as the rationale for demolishing the older, low-rise quarters in favour of denser, high-rise development that makes more efficient use of available land under the Master Plan for Delhi.

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The project has been moving forward in phases over the past decade, with newly constructed flats in Sarojini Nagar and Kasturba Nagar formally inaugurated earlier this year. These are part of a broader tranche of 2,700 new units, with roughly 6,600 more units planned across the four NBCC and CPWD-led colonies.

NBCC has already delivered comparable redevelopment work at Nauroji Nagar, where its World Trade Center complex was completed early last year, and at other GPRA sites such as New Moti Bagh and East Kidwai Nagar.

The overall seven-colony programme, estimated to cost around Rs 32,000 crore, is expected to be substantially complete by 2028.

‘Every tree mapped’

It is against this backdrop that the Delhi Forest department’s recent order permitting NBCC to fell or transplant 1,091 trees at the Sarojini Nagar site fits in, clearing one of the remaining regulatory requirements for construction to proceed on the colony’s undeveloped pockets. “It was a long process to approve the project. Ground inspections were carried out and every tree was mapped. After this, the site map was extensively studied and superimposed with the trees surveyed to count the number of trees affected. Since we realised the project is important. The aim was to reduce the number of trees affected,” a top official involved in the permission process told The Indian Express.

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The senior official explained that, under the DPTA,Delhi Preservation of Trees Act, 1994, a legislation enacted by the Government of NCT of Delhi to protect, preserve, and regulate the felling or transplantation of trees in the National Capital Territory, a tree is defined as any woody plant with branches supported by a trunk measuring at least 5 cm in diameter (taken 30 cm above ground level) and standing at least 1 metre tall. By this definition, several rootstocks of Prosopis juliflora and other immature specimens are also classified as trees. Consequently, the actual number of fully grown trees affected on the ground is lower, the official said.

Compensatory plantation at Bharat Vandana Park

As part of the compensatory framework, a plantation site at Bharat Vandana Park in West Delhi’s Dwarka was inspected by forest field staff and found suitable to accommodate 10,910 saplings, while the same site was also cleared for the transplantation of 1,049 of the affected trees. In line with departmental norms, the compensatory plantation is to be carried out at a ratio of ten trees for every one felled, with a refundable security component tied to plantation survival over a seven-year maintenance period. The permission is also backed by a security deposit of over Rs. 6.2 crore, as per the permission.

Requirements for geo-tagging every felled or transplanted tree, uploading photographic progress reports to the forest department’s portal, and avoiding disturbance to any bird nests, squirrel dens, or snake pits found on the trees until they are naturally vacated are among the conditions required as part of the permission.

The order also directs that trees not included in the approved list must remain undisturbed during construction.