Hyderabad: Within a week of the state government taking up the massive tree plantation drive across the state, the roads and buildings department is cutting down a 50-year-old banyan and other trees to widen the road at Thumkunta in Shamirpet mandal, near Alankrita Resort on the Karimnagar highway.
Notices have been hung on a few trees that are less than 10 years old, that they would be translocated. The bigger trees do not carry these notices.
The trees are in a line and can be used as a divider with roads planned on either side. This highway is used by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, ministers T. Harish Rao, K.T. Rama Rao and Etela Rajender to travel to their constituencies.
DC reader G.V. Rao, who reported the cutting of trees, said, “Old banyans are being cut to accommodate R&B’s road widening. It is high time that authorities plan roads without disturbing old trees. Such actions of the government agency will not inspire citizens to plant trees to spread greenery, as trees planted in 2016 may not survive beyond 2026, thanks to rampant cutting of trees in the name of development.” Roads officials refused to comment.
