Hyderabad’s Lungs Under Danger

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.” Mahatma Gandhi

Millions of creatures, both flora, and fauna, have shared our planet quite responsibly before man came into existence. But due to overpopulation, overambition, negligence, and greed, he has been destroying the natural habitat and its balance from time to time. And Kancha Gachibowli row in Hyderabad recently is no exception. 

“Can’t have high-rises in the company of deer,” the Supreme Court said clearly.

The Supreme Court on 16th April ordered the Telangana Wildlife Warden to take immediate steps to protect the wildlife impacted by the destruction of 100 acres of the Kancha Gachibowli “forest” cover. A Bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and A.G. Masih made it clear to the Telangana government that not a single tree more must be felled in the region.

(A herd of spotted deer graze at the Kancha Gachibowli area. Image credit: Raghu Ghanapuram)

Justice Gavai explained the State would be inviting an order from the apex court to prison its officials responsible for the deforestation to a temporary jail in the “very same spot” disrupted by bulldozers if it dared to validate the destruction.

Justice Gavai addressed senior advocate A.M. Singhvi and advocate Sravan Kumar, for the State of Telangana. Mr. Singhvi agreed with the court that their first job now is to restore the forest, who also denied the land was a forest. 

The claim that it was forest land had sprung up only after developmental activities commenced following the allotment of the land to the Telangana Industrial Infrastructure Corporation, which wanted to erect an IT park here. The Telangana government said that there will be above Rs 50,000 crore investments, which will in turn create more than five lakh jobs.

Mr. Singhvi submitted that the processes for the allotment had been ongoing since March 2024.

“The process might have gone on for many months, but the bulldozers came in three days. What was the tearing hurry? If you wanted to construct, you should have followed procedure, got requisite permissions,” Justice Gavai responded.

Justice Gavai also said the court wanted employment and development, but not at the cost of the environment.

Mr. Singhvi sought time to study a report made by the Central Empowered Committee on the issue. The Bench provided the State 4 weeks, while listing the case on May 15.

“Remember, if you want your Chief Secretary or Secretaries to be saved from severe action, you have to come out with a plan to restore the 100 acres,” Justice Gavai addressed the State’s representatives.

In the earlier hearing, the apex court had said the deforestation was undertaken despite a March 4, 2025 order of the Supreme Court barring any activity to deplete forest cover anywhere in the country.

It was addressed that to clear the forested land, you are required to take permission from the following three central agencies:

1)- The Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change.

2)- Take No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Forest Department.

3)- Approval from Wildlife Board.

In eco-sensitive zones, all the illegal activities will be considered as criminal offences. According to Wildlife Protection Act 1973, if you disturb the natural habitat of wildlife species, then you will be issued a non-bailable arrest warrant. 

On March 4, the court had issued a strict warning that Chief Secretaries of States and Administrators of Union Territories would be held personally responsible if they failed to constitute expert committees to identify forests in their respective jurisdictions in a month, followed by the preparation of consolidated records of these lands within the next six months under Rule 16(1) of the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Rules, 2023.

Petitions have also been filed in the State High Court by conservationists and even by the students of the University of Hyderabad, which occupies a part of the land. They claimed that Kancha Gachibowli fell under the division of ‘forest’ under the Forest Conservation Act. Until the Supreme Court intervention, 25% of the 400-acre land parcel, that’s about 100-acre, were destroyed and that too during the midnight hours. 

(The Mushroom Rock located in Kancha Gachibowli, Hyderabad. Image credit: Instagram)

Environmentalists felt suspicious and were worried that the temperature of Hyderabad will rise from 1°c to 4°c due to deforestation, and the air quality will worsen like Delhi. They also raised the question of why the greenest hub of west Hyderabad (the forest area of Kancha Gachibowli) was targeted, instead of the barren southern part, if the infrastructure development of the city was in the minds of the planners.

The petitioners had highlighted that the Kancha Gachibowli area was home to about 730 wildlife species, a rich and diverse flora and fauna, including 10 mammals, 15 reptiles, and 200 birds, and at least four rare species of flora and mushroom rock formations aged two billion years. The territory is also the highest catchment area for reservoirs pumping drinking water to Hyderabad, the petitioners conveyed.

The students of University of Hyderabad are demanding to save the Kancha Gachibowli Forest, one of the few natural spaces remaining in the city. Students want to be allowed to document the biodiversity in the area in order to prepare a report on potential ecological losses if the forest is auctioned off by the government. 

(The protesting students of University of Hyderabad at the forest site. Image credit by special arrangement.)

The students at Gachibowli have been up against the arms ever since the news of the auction of 400-acre land known as Kancha Gachibowli within campus premises broke out. The row has now reached the Supreme Court, which has acknowledged the rampage of greenery and the existence of wildlife in the region, before taking it up suo motu. So far, three PILs have already been filed in the Telangana High Court protesting the auction. 

Overexploitation of natural resources, including wildlife habitat, has been going on for ages, leading to global warming, resulting in natural calamities like floods, melting of glaciers and icebergs, and many illnesses presently being suffered by humans. And only a healthy environment can lay the foundation for a stable, sustainable, and robust society. 

-Shashi Thakur