Telangana government to fell 134 trees for road widening

Hyderabad: Following the lines of the Maharashtra government, the Telangana State Road and Buildings Department (TSRB) as a part of a road extension project will cut as many as 134 trees for road widening on the Radial Road No.7, from Tellapur Junction to Edunagupally. The move is controversial since on one hand Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has been pushing for his flagship Haritha Haram programme to be implemented with vigour from village to city level to increase the green cover in the state. On Friday morning, residents awoke to the sound of tree felling. By 11 am as many as 15 trees were cut. The trees are being axed to make way for a 100 feet road,

Matta Suresh, a resident, complained to the Chandanagar police station, and the tree felling stopped for today. While speaking to NewsMeter Suresh said, “One side we speaking about ‘Haritha Haram’ (an initiative by the Telangana government to plant trees), and on another side, we destroy 50-year-old trees. It is inhuman and tragic. I complained to the police and have stopped the activity for today.”

He added that there is no need for extension of this road as there is not much traffic. Besides, the trees could have been saved by reducing the road extension by three to four feet.Sources told Newsmeter that it was the forest committee that gave permission to cut the 50-year-old trees, as this species cannot survive relocation.

The TSRB officials said that the road is under reconstruction to benefit five lakh commuters plying this road daily.

K. Srinivas Rao, an executive engineer from Radial Roads Division of TSRB, told NewsMeter, “After we complete the extension of the road, there will be a 0.5m space on both the sides of the road, which will be used to 134 trees for road widening. The trees planted will grow into adult trees in two to three years.” He added that the forest department has permitted to cut only those trees which are on the verge of dying.