Felling of Trees Near KBR: Several Activists Detained
Police later released the five people who had been taken into custody. However, cases have been registered against them.
Hyderabad: Protests against felling of trees on a large scale around KBR National Park continued on Tuesday as police detained several activists near the Cancer Hospital stretch in Jubilee Hills.
Members of the ‘Save KBR’ campaign alleged that tree cutting took place during the night near the Cancer Hospital stretch. Activists gathered there to protest, were later taken into custody by Banjara Hills police.
Police later released the five people who had been taken into custody. However, cases have been registered against them.
Environmental groups said the scale of tree felling would affect green cover around the park and asked whether alternative plans were considered to reduce tree loss.
Activists also raised concerns about the survival of transplanted trees in earlier infrastructure projects in the city.
Uday, founder of Vata Foundation, said the impact may not be immediate but could affect the area over a longer period. “Instead of cutting down the trees, better make a one way that would help the traffic control in that specific route,” he said.
The flyover and underpass works are part of the Hyderabad City Innovative and Transformative Infrastructure (H-CITI) project aimed at reducing traffic congestion in the Jubilee Hills corridor. The issue has led to protests by residents, environmental groups and volunteers over the past few days.
On the other, Tree Protection Committee inspection records showed that 1,532 trees were approved for felling to pave the way for the flyover and underpass works proposed under the H-CITI project corridor.
According to TPC field inspection, 1,942 trees were identified. Of these, 1,532 trees were approved for felling, 380 for transplantation and 30 for retention.
The inspection covered stretches such as Jubilee Hills Checkpost, Film Nagar junction, Mugdha junction, Cancer Hospital junction and Road No. 45. The document lists tree species such as neem, rain-tree, gulmohar, tabebuia and palms.
The story was written by Naveed Hassan
