Telangana HC extends stay on tree felling near HCU till April 7

Hyderabad, April 3 (IANS) The Telangana High Court on Thursday extended its order to halt tree felling on 400 acres in Kancha Gachibowli near Hyderabad Central University (HCU) to April 7.

The High Court resumed hearing on Public Interest Litigations (PILs) filed by HCU students and Vata Foundation.

Appearing on behalf of the state government, Advocate General Sudershan Reddy sought time to file a counter to the PILs.

The division bench headed by acting Chief Justice Sujoy Paul allowed time to the government and adjourned the hearing to April 7. The court extended its interim order till the next hearing.

On Wednesday, the court directed Telangana Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC) to stop felling of trees and other works to level the ground till Thursday.

The petitioners voiced concern over the tree felling taken up by TGIIC by deploying several bulldozers and sought an immediate halt to the work.

The Supreme Court also stayed work on the land on Thursday. In an interim order, it directed the Chief Secretary of Telangana to ensure that no felling of trees takes place till further orders.

A bench of Justice B. R. Gavai and Justice A. G. Masih also directed the Registrar of the Telangana High Court to inspect the site and submit a report.

The bench passed the interim order after senior advocate K. Parmeshwar, the amicus curiae in forest cases, made an oral mention of tree felling on the land.

The tree felling and the government's plans to auction the land for the development of IT parks have caused concern among students, faculty of HCU and green activists. The opposition parties have also joined the protest and accused the government of destroying biodiversity.

The state government says that the land belongs to the government and it wants to utilise the same to build IT parks to provide jobs to youth. It denied that the land has any forest on it.

During the hearing of PILs on Wednesday, the petitioners submitted to the court that the government in June last year issued a Government Order, allotting 400 acres of government land to TGIIC. They argued that even if this is government land, the authorities concerned have to follow the Supreme Court orders. The court was told that heavy vehicles were being used to uproot trees and to level the ground.

The counsel for the petitioners contended that, as per the Supreme Court order, a committee of experts has to be constituted to remove trees from a forested land. If the land inhabited by wildlife is to be levelled, an expert committee has to visit that place and study it for a month.

The petitioners told the court that the land has three lakes, several rocks, and many species of animals and birds, and they need to be protected.

The court was told that authorities were acting against the Supreme Court guidelines, and for the last few days, a tense situation has been prevailing there.

--IANS

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