No activities at Kancha Gachibowli till our orders: SC tells govt

Hyderabad:The Supreme Court on Thursday took cognisance of the largescale felling of trees in the 400 acres of land situated in Survey No. 25 of the Kancha Gachibowli in Serilingampally mandal and directed the state government to immediately stop all activities in the vicinity, including deforestation.

Except for works related to protection of the trees in the said land, no single work should be taken up, until further orders, the apex court made it clear to the state government. The court also cautioned that if any violations were made to the interim orders, then the state chief secretary would be held responsible.

A division bench of the apex court comprising Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih issued these interim orders in a suo motu writ petition titled “Kancha Gachibowli Forest”.

After going through photographs related to the land and the flora and fauna and prima facie, the bench viewed that the site consisted of lakes and forests inhabited by wild animals and various species of birds.

The court felt that it was an alarming issue as the government had destroyed the trees in more than 100 acres in three days by deploying hundreds of excavators and other huge machinery. This was nothing but taking the law into their hands and it is a very serious matter, the court observed.

The court also directed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) to visit the area and file a report by April 16.

"In case any of the directions issued by us are not complied with in true letter and spirit, the Shief Secretary of the state shall be held personally liable," the bench warned.

Meanwhile, the court asked Chief Secretary (presently A. Santhi Kumari) to file an affidavit answering specific queries

Earlier in the day, the bench had passed an interim order staying the tree-felling in the area and directed the registrar (judicial) of the Telangana High Court to inspect the site and submit a report

The court intervened in the matter after the amicus curiae K. Parameshwar in the judgment passed in the ‘TN Godavarman Thirumulpad’ case, brought to the notice of the court the news reports which depicted felling of trees in the land near the University of Hyderabad by deploying JCBs.

When the matter was taken up at 3.45 pm, the court noted that the registrar (judicial) of the High Court had filed a report, which revealed that huge development activity was being undertaken in the area.

The court said that the report of the High Court's registrar (judicial) presented an “alarming picture”. The court specifically referred to pictures showing peacocks and deer fleeing from the region amid the destruction activities.