New Delhi:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeted the Congress today over the felling of trees in Hyderabad, that has already turned into a government versus civil society row. The matter will be heard by the Supreme Court again this week, with a report indicating that the 400-acre parcel – which the government is planning to develop — is inhabited by birds and animals and birds.
“The Congress government in Telangana forgot its promise to the people,” PM Modi said today while speaking at a government programme in Haryana.
“The Congress government there is busy running bulldozers over forests. Harm to the environment, danger to animals, this is their work process. We are trying to make energy from garbage and they are destroying forests,’ he added.
Taking suo motu cognisance of the deforestation activities in the Kancha Gachibowli forest – adjacent to the Hyderabad central Univrsity — the top court had directed on April 3 that the tree felling stop immediately.
The Telangana High Court registrar had submitted a report that said a large number of trees have been felled in the area that is inhabited by deer, peacocks and other birds.
“The report of the registrar (judicial) of the High Court of Telangana as well as photographs sent by him depict an alarming picture. Huge number of trees are being felled and apart from that, huge machinery is being deployed which has already destroyed an area of around 100 acres,” the court had said.
The matter will be heard again on April 16 by a bench of Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih.
The government, which claims ownership of the land adjacent to the university campus, is trying to set up an IT park.
But as bulldozers arrived to flatten the land earlier this month, students held a protest contending that developing the land would kill the forest, obliterating its flora and fauna and cutting off the city’s green lungs.
Raising “go back” slogans, they climbed atop the heavy machines, which led to a face-off with the police. Dozens were detained but later released.
The government asserted the redevelopment would bring in investment.