New Delhi: The Central Empowered Committee (CEC) and the forest department have granted formal permission to the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) to transplant or fell 1,254 trees for the Bijwasan rail terminal project in Dwarka Sector 21.Felling of 1,254 trees for Bijwasan railway project gets clearanceThis comes nearly four years after the forest department penalised the RLDA with ₹5.93 crore for felling around 990 trees for the same project.The proposed state-of-the-art terminal aims to transform Bijwasan into a major transport hub and decongest the New Delhi railway station.Though the project faced stiff opposition from locals and activists as part of the “Save Dwarka Forest” campaign, it has received clearances from both the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and the Supreme Court.In the permission order, dated May 5, the forest department states that RLDA initially sought permission to fell or transplant 1,293 trees, however, this number was first reduced to 1,279 trees by the CEC, and subsequently, to 1,254 trees.The permission has been granted under the Delhi Preservation of Trees Act, 1994. If over 50 trees must be felled for a project, the SC-appointed CEC must also clear it, in addition to the state forest department’s clearance.The CEC’s approval was received via an order dated December 2, 2025. As per the CEC order, 25 trees have been saved from those affected, reducing the total number of affected trees to 1,254, the order states.Of the total 1,254 trees, 780 will be felled while 474 will be transplanted.RLDA will also carry out compensatory plantation in the ratio 1:10, with the order stating that the compensatory plantation site is proposed at Narela railway station to Badli railway station, railway land of Rail Neer Plant near Maharaja Surajmal Stadium metro station, and railway land adjacent to the platform of Nangloi railway station.“The tree transplantation site proposed at Bijwasan was inspected by concerned field staff and was found suitable and sufficient for transplanting 507 trees,” added the order.Activists, meanwhile, said that while the project was flagged for violations in the past, a significant number of trees have still been impacted. “The goal should be to protect as many trees as possible. In this case, fines were also imposed in the past due to illegal felling. Despite being such a highly polluted city, Delhi continues to lose fully grown trees,” said environmental activist Bhavreen Kandhari.In 2022, HT reported that the forest department imposed a fine of ₹5.93 crore on RLDA for alleged illegal felling or removal of 990 trees at the Bijwasan project site. A forest team excavated a portion of land initially in search of evidence and found around 150 trees from an area of around 0.6 hectares. The final investigation report stated that 990 trees were illegally felled or removed from about 4 hectares of land based on satellite images and plot sampling methods.The Bijwasan rail terminal project will have eight platforms, up from the current two; it will also include multiple subways, separate pick-up and drop zones, and mega station buildings with a focus on multimodal integration. The RLDA did not comment on the permission received.