Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has ordered the state government to stop all work on a 400-acre land next to the University of Hyderabad (UoH) until April 3. This land has become a topic of dispute due to ongoing development activities.
A bench led by Acting Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Renuka Yara was hearing several public interest litigations (PILs). These petitions asked the court to stop the clearing of land and cutting of trees at the Kancha Gachibowli site. The petitioners also objected to the state government’s decision to give this land to the Telangana Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC), saying it violated the Forest Conservation Act.
On March 30, TGIIC began development work on the site following a government order. However, the court has now asked for all work to be paused. This came after lawyer S Niranjan Reddy, representing one of the petitioners, informed the court that tree-cutting was still happening.
The state’s Advocate General, Sudarshan Reddy, said the claims in the petitions were based on Google images, which he argued are not valid evidence according to the Supreme Court. He also said the land in question lies outside the UoH campus and has always been meant for industrial development.
Niranjan Reddy countered by saying that trees taller than one metre cannot be cut without permission under the Water, Land, and Trees Act (WALTA). He claimed that many trees were being cut illegally and described the situation as an “ecological disaster.” He asked the court to order the government to provide satellite images from the National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA) to show the damage done.
Another lawyer argued that the plants and animals living in the 400-acre area—whether the land belongs to the university or the government—are in danger because of the authorities’ focus on economic gain.
On Monday, TGIIC told the court it had proved its ownership of the land and said that UoH does not own any part of it. Meanwhile, students from UoH continue to protest the state government’s plan to build IT infrastructure and other projects on the disputed land.
