India, Sept. 9 -- New Delhi

The Central Empowered Committee (CEC) has granted necessary clearances for felling, transplanting and pruning trees falling on the alignment of the long-stalled Barapullah Phase-3, paving the way to finish the project nearly a decade since construction was started. The clearances were granted after the Public Works Department (PWD) and the forest department carried out a joint survey of affected trees, recording their geo-location, girth and genus.

According to the final count, around 155 trees in the central forest division will be affected-10 will be felled or are already dry, 34 will be transplanted and 111 will be retained, of which 107 might be lightly pruned. In the south forest division, 178 trees will...