India, April 2 -- Nearly 43% of the trees transplanted for the central government's Rs.20,000-crore Central Vista redevelopment project have perished, the Centre informed the Lok Sabha on Thursday.

The government said a total of 3,609 trees were transplanted for the project, of which 1,545 did not survive after transplantation.

Providing details in a written reply to a question by Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mohua Moitra, minister of state for housing and urban affairs Tokhan Sahu said compensatory plantation was also undertaken alongside transplantation efforts.

"As many as 24,450 trees in NTPC ECO Park, Badarpur and 1,730 trees in Ghitorni have been planted under compensatory plantation," Sahu stated.

The Centre added that Rs.5.29 c...