Hyderabad: Nearly 300 citizens and activists gathered at the KBR park on Sunday to protest against the Telangana government’s proposed Strategic Road Development Plan. The SRDP involves a plan to construct multi-layer flyovers and around 20 junctions in the city to ease traffic along the IT corridor and one of the flyovers, according to the activists, can only be built after axing trees at KBR Park. Many allege it will lead to severe loss of green cover in the city.
The matter is currently up for a hearing with the National Green Tribunal. Kajal Maheshwari, a Member of the Hyderabad Rising group said, “KBR is not just a park. It is a national forest located in the heart of our city with an enormous ecological significance. It is located on a ridge and is the highest point in the city. It also acts as a carbon and water sink for the entire city. Destroying this eco-sensitive zone will cause a complete destruction of this national park.”
Shilpa Sivakumaran, Member, Hyderabad Rising, said, “Hyderabad Rising is not against development. We are for pro-environmental transportation by reducing car dependency. We want the government to take proactive steps in terms of better sustainable open space policies and improving green cover as seen in the best practices of other world class cities.”
