India: Supreme Court stays tree felling on land near Hyderabad University
Chief Secretary to ensure that no felling of trees takes place till further orders
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed tree felling on 400 acres of land in Kancha Gachibowli near the Hyderabad Central University.
The apex court, in an interim order, directed the state Chief Secretary to ensure that no felling of trees takes place till further orders.
A bench of Justice B. R. Gavai and Justice A. G. Masih also directed the Registrar of the Telangana High Court to inspect the site and submit a report by 3.30 p.m. on Thursday.
The bench passed the interim order after senior advocate K. Parmeshwar, the amicus curiae in forest cases, made an oral mention of tree felling on the land.
The bench observed that the newspapers depict vast deforestation in the Kancha Gachibowli forest. The news reports show that authorities have resorted to the felling of trees, taking advantage of long holidays over the weekend. It noted the reports that the forest area houses eight types of scheduled animals.
Why the controversy?
The dispute is decades old. The Hyderabad Central University claims that the 400 acres are part of the 2,324 acres allotted to it in 1975. However, the High Court ruled in 2022 that there was no legal document proving the transfer of this land to the university. The Supreme Court later upheld this decision, confirming that the government owns the land.
Despite this ruling, students and environmentalists argue that the land is an ecologically sensitive zone. They claim it is home to over 455 species of flora and fauna, including peacocks, buffalo lakes, and mushroom rocks. Activists from the Vata Foundation, an NGO, have filed a petition demanding that the land be declared a national park under the Wildlife (Protection) Act. They want it to be granted ‘deemed forest’ status.
Legal battle in High Court
According to the reports, the case reached the High Court on Tuesday when students filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) to stop the government’s land allotment to Telangana Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC). The High Court will hear both the students’ petition and an earlier petition by Vata Foundation.
The Telangana High Court on Wednesday had stayed tree felling and other works on the land till Thursday.
It pronounced the interim order while hearing the Public Interest Litigations filed by HCU students and Vata Foundation.
While adjourning the hearing to Thursday, the court directed the Telangana Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC) to stop the work.
Vata Foundation, an NGO working for environmental conservation, sought deemed forest status for the land and demanded that it be declared a national park under Section 35 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act.
The petitioner’s counsel also submitted to the court that the HCU campus had all the features of biodiversity hotspots and was ecologically sensitive, as recognised by the Supreme Court for conferment of deemed forest status in the Godavarman case.
The petitioners submitted to the court that the government in June last year issued a Government Order, allotting 400 acres of government land to the TGIIC. They argued that even if this is government land, the authorities concerned have to follow the Supreme Court orders. The court was told that heavy vehicles were being used to uproot trees and to level the ground.
The counsel for the petitioners contended that, as per the Supreme Court order, a committee of experts has to be constituted to remove trees from a forested land. If the land inhabited by wildlife is to be levelled, an expert committee has to visit that place and study it for a month.
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