Kancha Gachibowli: Telangana Congress calls out PM Modi; lists tree felling in UoH for constructing five buildings

Hyderabad: Telangana Congress strongly condemned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's accusations against the state government over the Kancha Gachibowli land issue. In a detailed note, Telangana Congress said that the statements of PM Modi are baseless and hypocritical.

Misled by Kishan Reddy

Telangana Congress leaders accused Union Minister G Kishan Reddy of misleading Prime Minister Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party on the Kancha Gachibowli issue in Telangana. Deputy chief minister of Telangana Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said, "PM Modi seems to be misinformed of the Gachibowli land issue. Let me clarify — that is not forest land, it is revenue land, and this fact is well-known to everyone. If it were forest land, how could prestigious institutions like IIIT, ISB, and a university exist on the very same survey number? There is also a knowledge center and several other institutions established in that area. If the land is truly forest land, how were all these constructions permitted?"

Congress rejected the BJP's stance as baseless and hypocritical. Member of Parliament Kiran Kumar Chamala said, “Cabinet minister Kishan Reddy posted AI-based photos of those lands and deleted them knowing that it was wrong. He was aware that cases would be filed. Did he tell PM Modi about his deleted tweets?”

Chamala says, “PM Modi’s lack of understanding about the issue is outrageous.”

BJP's track record of cutting trees

Congress has called out PM Modi and listed five buildings in the University of Hyderabad, which they say, were constructed after the felling of trees in 2023.

These buildings include School of Economics, School of Mathematics & Statistics, School of Management Studies, Lecture Hall Complex – III, and Sarojini Naidu School of Arts & Communication (Annexe)—were built at the cost of thousands of mature trees, with no evidence of compensatory afforestation.

Prime Minister Modi inaugurated the buildings on October 1, 2023. This project, pushed by BJP’s Union Ministry of Human Resource Development, demonstrates their willingness to sacrifice environmental integrity for political showmanship, Congress said.

Other trees cut down

Congress said one crore trees were cut between 2014 and 2019. In addition to 23 lakh trees between 2020 and 2022 for mega infrastructure projects like highways, ports and airports across India.

* Diluted environmental laws, such as amendments to the Forest Conservation Act in 2023.

* 28 percent of India’s forests are at development risk

* The streamlining of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process, reducing clearance times from 580 days to 180 days (with plans to further reduce it to 100 days), further weakens safeguards, endangering ecosystems and increasing human-wildlife conflict through projects in protected areas like tiger reserves and national parks.

Special permission to clear forest land for KCR

In Telangana, the BJP gave special permission to the previous KCR government to clear 13,000 acres of forest land.

BJP is desperate in TG

The Congress leaders in Gandhi Bhawan have been time and again calling out the leaders of BJP as being desperate in Telangana.

Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president Mahesh Goud called out Union Minister Kishan Reddy for stalling the metro rail project in the state. Goud said, “The BJP MPs from TG are not working for the development of the state.”

Congress' call to the public

Congress party leaders have called on the public and media to hold the BJP accountable. “Environmental negligence, political opportunism and failure to address the real issues of the state by their leaders,” said the Congress statement.