Students of the University of Hyderabad raise slogans during their protest demanding the removal of police personnel and earth-moving machinery from the campus, in Hyderabad on Tuesday. The students are protesting against the Telangana government’s plan to auction 400 acres of forested land in the Kancha Gachibowli area for the development of IT parks.
| Photo Credit: PTI
A delegation comprising civil society members, members of JAC from University of Hyderabad (UoH), environmentalists and activists which met the Telangana Cabinet members on Tuesday brought to their notice, the existence of six species of fauna listed under the Schedule-I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 at the site of Kancha Gachibowli, where the government seeks to auction 400 acres of land for IT and mixed use development.
Indian peafowl, Bengal monitor lizard, Indian rock python, Indian star tortoise, osprey and four horned antelope were the six species listed by the delegation before Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, and ministers D.Sridhar Babu and Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy. One more species not mentioned in the meeting was Indian flapshell turtle, the delegation members later revealed.
However, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests R.M.Dobriyal, who was present at the meeting, pleaded ignorance of the presence of the listed species, and said the area has not been classified as forest, and that the process of identification of deemed forests as per the Godavarman judgement of the Supreme Court had begun just a month ago in Telangana.
Mr.Sridhar Babu reportedly questioned the delegation why the authorities had not been alerted about the presence of Schedule I species in the campus. Representatives from the Save City Forest reportedly presented the evidence of forest officials being frequenters to the university in cases pertaining to poaching and feral dog attacks.
Members also raised questions about the violation of the WALTA Act, 2002, which prohibits felling of trees without permission at the site, lack of biodiversity assessment, and absence of any Environmental Impact Assessment required for the project.
The delegation led by former professor of UoH and activist G.Haragopal and comprising environmentalist Donthi Narasimha Reddy, activists Kiran Kumar Vissa, Arun Vasireddy and Save City Forest members Shivani and Anju, among others, placed four demands before the ministers — to withdraw the deployment of dozens of earthmoving machinery immediately from the site, revoke all cases against the students, review the auction proposal and hand over the 400-acre land to the UoH.
Principal Secretary, Land Revenue, Naveen Mittal explained to the delegation that the land did not belong to the UoH, and placed evidence pertaining to the alienation of the land from the university in exchange for land allocation at another site.
However, Mr. Haragopal clarified that the current agitation had been launched on moral grounds and not legal grounds, as the land parcel was granted way back in 1970s when UoH was established as part of the Six Point Formula proposed by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi. Though the university had no title for the land, all the 2,300-odd acres of land enclosed by the compound wall had come to be considered as the UoH land, he mentioned. Once the allocation to the private entity was cancelled in 2006, the land should have been returned to the university honouring its history, he pointed out. The ministers, while not giving assurances on any demand, said the points raised by the delegation will be deliberated upon.
Published – April 02, 2025 01:37 am IST
