Hyderabad: Kalapala Babu Rao, a retired scientist, on Tuesday filed a PIL before the Telangana High Court against the razing of trees in the 400-acre land parcel in Survey No. 25, Kancha Gachibowli.Rao said the action of the government was unlawful and in violation of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. The PIL said the government had gone ahead without constituting an expert committee under the Forest Conservation Rules, 2023 for the preparation of a consolidated record of forest land.He requested the court to set aside GO Ms No 54 of 26-06-2024 alienating the land to TGIIC and to declare the land as a national park under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.The PIL said the land was categorised as the Deccan southern thorny scrub forest ecoregion. These are moist dry deciduous forests and scrub jungles common and play a crucial role in climate regulation, maintaining the groundwater table and providing a habitat for wildlife and vegetation, lakes and rock formations. The forests were characterised by low-canopied scrub with sparse, short, thorny, dense-wooded trees with pockets of tropical dry deciduous forests scattered throughout.As the canopies were not thick, the floor of such forests provided an opportunity for a variety of grasses to grow, creating a grassland ecosystem unlike an evergreen forest. These canopies, flowers and fruits of the scrub trees and the grasses provide a perfect habitat for bird and wildlife species akin to the KBR and the Mrugavani national park, the PIL said.The razing of such a forest will be an ecological disaster for the city, particularly in the financial capital which is witnessing enormous development in terms of setting up of companies and residential complexes.A division bench of the Telangana High Court headed by acting Chief Justice Sujoy Paul will hear the PIL on Wednesday along with the petition filed by Vata foundation in which the High Court had on March 24 sought an explanation from the government.
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