Hyderabad: Citizens and environment enthusiasts heaved a sigh of relief as after eight years of struggle, the Kothaguda eco-tourism project was finally scrapped on Monday. The project had initially received a green signal despite violating several sections for preserving environment and wildlife.
The Telangana state government on Monday submitted before the Hyderabad High Court that it has decided to not accord any sanction to the proposed eco-tourism project on 110 hectares in Kothaguda reserve forest area. The government said the project is not in the interest of conservation of forest.
The government submitted an affidavit before a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta and Justice P.V. Sanjay Kumar, stating that there were several irregularities that had taken place in allotting land to the project.
The Bench was dealing with a PIL by Lumbini SLN Springs Welfare Association, represented by its president A. Krishna Reddy, submitting that the action of the respondents in seeking to convert the forest land and to utilise the same for non-forest purposes was contrary to principles of law and violated the fundamental rights of the members of the association under Article 21 of the Constitution.
On an earlier occasion, the Bench had issued a notice to the government file its version on the plea.
“We are very happy that our struggle did not go in vain and that we won this battle. We can now retain the botanical garden for future generations to cherish,” said A. V. Reddy, secretary, Botanical Garden’s Walkers Association.
In the affidavit that was submitted by the state government, Raymond Peter, the principal secretary of environment and forest, science and technology, stated that the eco-tourism project was fraudulent and that there were severe irregularities and illegalities in the allotment of the project to three groups the Delara Tourism Corporation, Track India Private Limited and Hyderabad Bird Park and Gardens.
The three vested interest groups were to destroy about 70 acre of reserve forest area to set up a night safari park, a bird park and another botanical garden with various botanical sectors, species, visitor facilities, utilities and related recreational components, food kiosks, and restaurants.
