Supreme Court Halts Deforestation in Kancha Gachibowli

Photo: X/@IndianTechGuide

Five days after the Telangana government started cutting trees and clearing forest land near the University of Hyderabad (UoH), the Supreme Court of India has ordered an immediate stop to the work. The court called the state’s action “alarming” and said no more activity should take place in the area unless it is to protect the trees already standing.

A team of two judges, Justice B R Gavai and Justice A G Masih, said in their order on Thursday:
 “Until further orders, the Telangana government must not carry out any activity in this area, except to protect the existing trees.”
This decision from the Supreme Court came just a day after the Telangana High Court had also asked the state to stop cutting trees until Thursday.

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Starting last Sunday, the Telangana government sent a large number of earthmovers and machines to clear trees on a 400-acre forest area near UoH. This land is home to many types of plants and animals. The government had plans to auction the land to build IT parks. However, students from UoH strongly protested, asking the government to stop the auction and protect the green land.

On Thursday morning, the Supreme Court told the Telangana High Court’s Registrar (Judicial) to visit the site, check the situation, and submit a report with photos by 3:30 PM the same day.

Later in the afternoon, after looking at the report and pictures, the Supreme Court said it was very concerned. The report showed that many trees had already been cut and heavy machinery was still being used. It also mentioned that peacocks and wild animals like deer live in that forest. The court said that these signs clearly show that it is a natural forest with wildlife.

The Supreme Court reminded everyone that it had already passed rules in earlier cases saying that forest land cannot be reduced without planting new trees somewhere else (compensatory afforestation). The court also said that each state must form a special committee to identify forest lands, and if they fail to do so, the Chief Secretary (the highest officer in the state government) will be held responsible.

The bench pointed out that Telangana had only formed this committee on March 15, and yet the tree-cutting had started just a few days after that. The judges said it made no sense to rush the work before even starting the process to properly check if the land was a forest or not.

Justice Gavai gave a strong warning, saying:
“If the Chief Secretary wants to enjoy the state’s hospitality, they might end up in a temporary jail built right there near the lake.”
Senior lawyer Gaurav Agarwal, who represented the Telangana government, said that the area was not a forest. But Justice Gavai replied, “Whether it’s a forest or not, did you get the required permission to cut the trees?”

He also said that clearing about 100 acres in just 2-3 days is a big deal, and added, “No matter how powerful someone is, the law is above everyone.”
The judges asked the Telangana Chief Secretary to submit a written statement explaining why there was such a hurry to begin the work and why certain officers, who had nothing to do with forest checking, were present at the site.The court also asked for a new case to be started on this matter on its own (this is called a suo motu case).

Finally, the Supreme Court gave a clear warning:
“If our orders are not followed properly, the Chief Secretary will be personally responsible.”
This case was brought to the court’s attention by Senior Advocate K Parameshwar, who is helping the court with cases related to forests.