Destruction in Kancha Gachibowli ‘forest’ area depicts an ‘alarming picture’, says SC

Petitions filed by conservationists and students of the Hyderabad University said the 400 acres of green cover fell under the category of ‘forest’ under the Forest Conservation Act

The Supreme Court on Thursday (March 3, 2025) observed the extent of destruction caused in 100 acres of Kancha Gachibowli “forest” area shows an alarming picture while directing the Telangana Chief Secretary to explain the “compelling urgency” which drove the State government to flatten trees with heavy machinery and excavate the land in the name of “developmental activity”.

Effectively staying the work on the land, a Bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and A.G. Masih said the State Chief Secretary would be held responsible if any further activity, other than protecting the remaining trees, was undertaken. “The Chief Secretary will be sent to a temporary prison constructed on the same spot,” Justice Gavai remarked in court.

The morning of March 3 saw the Supreme Court register a suo motu case, and rush the Telangana High Court Registrar to visit the spot of destruction and submit an interim report with photographs of the area by 3.30 p.m.

Senior advocate A.M. Singhvi, who appeared for the State in the morning, denied the land had been a forest. The claim that it was forest land had sprung up only after developmental activities commenced after the land was allotted to the Telangana Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC).

When asked whether trees had been felled, Mr. Singhvi had replied that “some shrubs were cleared” in the area.

Post lunch when the hearing re-commenced, the Bench perused the Registrar’s report to note that “a huge number of trees were felled apart from heavy machinery deployed across an area of 100 acres”. It noted the signs of birds and animals to remark that the area was recently the abode of a diverse fauna and flora. It noted that a number of peacock, deer and birds were seen in the area, prima facie, indicating “that there existed a forest inhabited by the wild animals”.

“There was a lake once there, but a huge developmental activity took place there,” Justice Gavai said.

When senior advocate Gaurav Agarwal, for Telangana, objected to the use of the term “huge”, Justice Gavai retorted, “we are saying so… 100 acres is something like Corbett... 100 acres in two or three days is something... we would only remind one sentence, howsoever high one may be, one is not above the law”.

SC’s stern warning

The Bench said the activity was undertaken despite a March 4, 2025 order of the Supreme Court barring any activity to deplete forest cover across the country. On March 4, the court had issued a stern warning that Chief Secretaries of States and Administrators of Union Territories would be held personally liable 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. Telangana had constituted the expert panel on March 15.

The court ordered the Chief Secretary to respond to whether an Environmental Impact Assessment was done before undertaking the developmental activity.

“Was requisite permission taken from the forest authority or under any statutes for felling the trees? What has been done with the felled trees?” the court asked the State government. The court ordered the Chief Secretary to file a detailed affidavit on these questions before April 16. The Central Empowered Committee to visit the spot and submit a report in the apex court.

The suo motu registration of the case in the Supreme Court came within 24 hours of the Telangana High Court ordering a stop to the activities in the area.

Petitions filed by conservationists and even of the students of the Hyderabad University, which abuts the land, in the High Court had said the green cover of Kancha Gachibowli fell under the category of ‘forest’ under the Forest Conservation Act.

They had termed the land as the lung of a city choked by pollution and high-rise buildings. The petitioners had highlighted that the Kancha Gachibowli area was host to a rich and diverse flora and fauna, mammals, birds, at least four rare species of flora and mushroom rock formations aged two billion years. They said the land being destroyed had three lakes, including the Peacock Lake and Buffalo Lake. The land was also the highest catchment area for reservoirs pumping drinking water to Hyderabad.

Published - April 03, 2025 11:50 am IST