Telangana HC orders pause on destruction of green cover at Kancha Gachibowli till April 3

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has asked the Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy led Congress government to pause the clearing of green cover on the 400 acres land at Kancha Gachibowli till April 3 (Thursday), 2 pm.

The High Court on Wednesday heard two PIL petitions questioning the allotment of 400 acres to the Telangana Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Limited (TGIIC) and seeking a direction to stay excavations and uprooting of trees in the said land at Kancha Gachibowli, and declare it as a national park.

Two public litigations filed were primarily on the premises that this land comes under Forest and not Industrial. One PIL filed by Retired Scientist Kalapala Babu Rao is represented by Senior Counsel L Ravi Chandra and S Niranjan Reddy argued on behalf of another petitioner environmentalist Uday Krishna, the founder of the Vata Foundation.

Both the counsels argued that the move is in violation of forest conservation act. "Why was there no expert committee to conduct a recce and plans to conserve the flora and fauna, why no regulations were followed," they challenged.

The Chief Justice heard the arguments.

While the High Court will resume hearing on April 3, the advocate general has orally assured that no trees will be uprooted until then.

Few remaining urban forests

Kancha Gachibowli is one of the few remaining urban forests in Hyderabad.

This habitat hosts a wide range of birds and animals. There are approximately 237 species of birds on the campus. It’s one among the few urban forest areas that houses Spotted Deer, Wild Boars, Star Tortoises and numerous snake species such as Indian Rock Python, Vipers, Cobras, Boas and Kraits.

The Telangana government claimed that the 400 acres belonged to the State government. The government intends to develop world-class infrastructure in this government land through the TGIIC. It is preparing to invite tenders for the integrated development of this land.

Over the last three days, more than 40 JCBs were deployed to clear the area, disturbing the habitat. Following this, University of Hyderabad Students Union members went on a protest against the development and some of them were arrested too.

On Wednesday morning, a scuffle broke out between the police, the students and the faculty when they were marching towards the East Campus, raising slogans to stop the JCBS and go back.

Ministry of Environment issues notice to Telangana government

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change directed the additional secretary (Forests) of Telangana to take legal action under the provisions of the Indian Forest Act and ensure no violation of any acts at the Hyderabad Central University.

In the letter, the ministry has requested the State government to:

- Provide a factual report on the issue immediately,

- Take legal action under the provisions of the Indian Forest Act (or local Forest Act), Wildlife Protection Act and the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, as applicable.

- Ensure there is no violation of any other acts or orders of the courts and tribunals.

A factual report about the illegal felling and removal of vegetation in Kancha Gachibowli and an Action Taken report in this regard was asked to be submitted to the ministry.

UoH teachers condemn police presence on campus, demand release of detained students

The University of Hyderabad Teachers Association (UHTA) has asked the State government to withdraw police force from the campus immediately, stop the mindless destruction of green cover and release arrested students unconditionally.

The teachers called for a protest on Wednesday to protest and the subsequent detention of students when they tried to stop the bulldozers from clearing the land. More than 200 faculties, non-teaching staff and around 700 students participated. A protest rally was organised from the Dr BR Ambedkar Auditorium to the East campus (the site of 400 acres of disputed land). However, the procession was stopped by the police, and some of the protesting students were brutally lathi-charged by the police. Then the procession moved towards the university's main gate, where teachers and the students representatives addressed the media and marched towards administration to make a representation to the vice-chancellor and registrar of the university.

President of UHTA, Dr Bhangya Bhukya, said, “The State government claims that it owns 400 acres of land, but it does not give them right to violate green cover and destroy the natural habitat of animals.”

The following demands are being made by UHTA:

- The State government should immediately withdraw police force from campus and stop the mindless destruction of green cover using earthmovers immediately.

- To release the arrested students unconditionally and no charges be filed against any student.

- To start the process of granting land title to the University within a month.

- An assessment of destruction of the forest cover of the disputed 400 acres land in the University by the State government should be done by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India immediately.

- The university should submit a representation to the Forest Department to declare the forested areas as a Bio heritage reserve.

- The university should go to the court and demand the State government to compensate 137 acres of land taken (given to housing societies) and 18 acres taken for road development according to the MoU signed between the University and the State government.

The public statement from the UoH teachers’ union stated: “Even though the State government claimed that it owns 400 acres of land, ownership doesn’t give rights to violate laws by cutting down green cover, and by destroying habitat of animals.”

The university has been a custodian of this land for the past 50 years and has preserved the biodiversity intact. The rights of the university as the custodian cannot be overridden by the State government.

They demanded that the original 2,324 acres of land allotted to the university clearly mentioned that this land should be utilised only for educational purposes. However, the State government's plan to auction it for commercial a multi-utility purpose violated the original order.

‘Won’t auction the land’

In response to the escalating situation, chief minister A Revanth Reddy convened a meeting with his Cabinet colleagues Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu, D Sridhar Babu, N Uttam Kumar Reddy and Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy to discuss the ongoing issue concerning the HCU land at the Integrated Command Control.

Deputy CM Bhatti Vikramarka stated that the government is taking steps to maintain the ecological balance so that Hyderabad remains a pollution-free city. Some political parties, through their media outlets, are spreading massive propaganda on social media against the government’s efforts to give the land, which they fought and saved, as public property, instead of it falling into the hands of private individuals, he said. He appealed to the people to understand and turn the narrative around.