Hyderabad: Environmentalists, retired scientists, bureaucrats and activists on Sunday mounted an all-out attack against the Telangana government’s urban development policies saying they were harmful to the environment.
A meeting discussing '20 flyovers, construction of memorials around the Hussain Sagar, razing heritage structures, sale of government lands, Development or environmental and economic doom for Hyderabad and alternatives' was organised by Save Our Urban Lakes (SOUL) in the city on Sunday.
The Strategic Road Development Plan of GHMC particularly came under criticism. Dr Lubna Sarwath of SOUL asked, “Why is it that the trees around KBR National Park are being targeted for SRDP? If the government thinks it is so important it can change the plan towards other side of crossroads near the park and demolish buildings which come in the way. Development cannot be at the cost of the environment. More thsssan investing crores on such projects, there is an urgent need to spend money to develop infrastructure for health and education.”
Sagar Dhara, a former consultant with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), said, “There is no other way but to avoid generating pollution. Look at New Delhi, even after so many years of using CNG vehicles, there has been no impact on its air quality.
Apart from sulphur dioxide there is no decline in nitrogen oxide levels or particulate matter. It is just not possible to clean the environment of pollution. Expansion projects in cities must be avoided. Cities like Hyderabad need to shrink in size.”
