#LungsInBlack: Fridays for Future Hyderabad leads protest to save KBR, Mrugavani national parks

With the theme of 'Don't want our #LungsInBlack', the protest seeks to save the city's two green spaces – KBR National Park and Mrugavani National Park

The Fridays for Future Hyderabad team dressed in black and held placards that read "Don't encroach on our parks" and "Forests are our lifeline". They said this was not about global warming but about the city, people's home and their bodies. This is not just about future generations, it is about the present time, they said.

The group added that people have been ignorant and that has caused the city to change with temperatures, pollution, and flooding increasing.

The theme for Global Climate Strike across the world this year is #UprootTheSystem.

The group believes that it is not about lifestyle change anymore but a change in the system and change at the policy level. "It is not about you saving a mug of water during bathing while the corporates every day use up thousands of liters of underground water for their personal benefit," the group added.

Telangana, though known for its Haritha Haram initiative, is also the highest tree-cutting state in India. The plan to axe more than 3,000 trees in the buffer zones of the KBR and Mrugavani National Parks is in the offing. About 1,000 banyan trees planted during the Nizam's time have been earmarked for felling to widen the Hyderabad-Chevella highway. Each tree is a living heritage and is more than 70 years old.

"Most people feel that since they are not environmentalists they need not bother. Cutting down trees to this extent is going to impact all of us in an irreversible way. All of us here demonstrating are not some extraordinary people with superpowers but simple people who feel vulnerable taking part in these activities," said 21-year-old Ananya Sangameshwar.

Sriparna Das, an HR professional, said, "After the demonstration, I will return to work and continue wearing this black outfit throughout the day. I have no time to take a break and freshen up. Yet, I take this effort because I understand that this is the single most important thing that I need to do: spread awareness on climate change."

Kaajal Maheshwari who has been instrumental in getting a stay on the axing of trees in the KBR walkway for the last six years said it was a never-ending battle. "The KBR case has almost taken six years and I'm not sure how many times it will be extended. We have neither the power nor the funds yet we have to fight the manipulations and the power games. It's exhausting. Everybody needs to pitch in instead of just applauding from the stands."

Arpit Sharma, an educator and a Teach for India alumni who trains young minds on the power of Nature, added, "All that glitters is not gold. It is becoming black on the inside where it actually matters."