UoH built on Kancha Gachibowli land too: TG to tell SC

Hyderabad:The state government will plead in the Supreme Court to not treat the contentious 400 acres of land in Kancha Gachibowli in isolation while applying the definition of forest land, and that the University of Hyderabad had put up several structures there.

The land parcel is part of the 2,300 acres in Survey No, 25 that was given to the University of Hyderabad long ago.

It is expected that the university would be in tight position during the visit of the Central Empowered Committee as the administration had resorted to largescale felling of trees to construct four buildings and two helipads on at least 40 acres which form part of 400-acre Kancha Gachbowli site.

“No building permissions were taken and the mandatory clearance for felling trees was not obtained by the university,” a senior official told Deccan Chronicle. The university carried out the “illegal” activity during the Covid pandemic.

The government would take a stand that characteristics of the land, if decided as a forest, would be same for entire university campus where lakhs of square feet of buildings were constructed as well as the 400 acres which are now mired in a controversy. “Future expansion of the university will not happen on the land if it is declared as a forest,” sources in the government pointed out.

The government will seek to address the apex court’s eight-point questionnaire relating to statutory clearances and submit relevant information to the CEC that would be holding a field inspection in a couple of days, according to official sources.

Though the group of ministers (GoM) constituted by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy to suggest a way forward after holding consultations with stakeholders didn’t formally meet so far, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka held a review with forest and revenue officials on Friday.

Sources said the officials briefed Bhatti over the TGIIC obtaining consent from the Pollution Control Board to take up development activities in about 50 hectares. “The local tahsildar accorded permission under WALTA as a majority of the trees to be axed are of a common variety and are not endangered species,” sources pointed out.

A section of leaders at the decision-making level even toyed with the idea of exploring possibilities of converting entire 2,300 acres of the UoH into an eco park of international standards by relocating the university to the proposed Future City and build a new one with state funds if the nature of land was concluded as a forest.