Ahead of the World Environment Day on Monday, several activists staged a protest by forming human chain at the Kasu Brahmananda Reddy (KBR) National Park in Hyderabad's Banjara Hills on Sunday against State government’s Strategic Road Development Plan (SRDP).
After more than a year of conducting events and campaign against the government’s move, over 150 activist protested on Sunday under the banner of 'Hyderabad Rising' with the theme ‘we will not give up, KBR will be saved’.
“The flyover proposed is a failed plan with bottlenecks, faulty planning and mandatory clearances missing,” Neha Murarka, one of the protesters, told Times of India.
Last year, the state had decided to construct multi-layer flyovers over 20 key junctions in the city under the SRDP, and one of those flyovers would require trees to be axed at KBR Park.
However, the decision has attracted huge criticism from several citizens and activists.
After a PIL was filed last year by environmentalist K Purshottam Reddy in the Hyderabad High Court against the project, the court refused to allow the government to axe trees.
"Cutting trees is no solution...We will not allow the authorities to cut trees. Development may be essential, but at the same time parks like KBR should not be disturbed. We will not allow you to cut even a single tree from here," Justice Bhosale earlier said during the hearing.
Following this, the NGT has also reportedly directed state government to maintain status quo around KBR park ruling out any possibility of clearing trees under the project.
According to reports the state has been continuing its other construction works under SRDP, by translocating some trees instead of axing them for the project.
“We are roping in NGOs, which will suggest measures for the process. The trees that will be shifted will be decided on the basis of their age and a set of other parameters. Wherever we can do it, we will ensure the trees are trans-located instead of being chopped down,” GHMC Commissioner B Janardhan Reddy has earlier said.
However, this has not convinced the protesters. They have decided to go ahead with the protest by filing representation letter to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change with their objections and would file an E-petition (online petition) for the same.
“We are not against development but are for sustainable solutions. If the State is open to suggestions, we can work on a project report to suggest them reasons for the congestion in Hyderabad and what really needs to be looked into to resolve this issue. There are expert traffic consultants who have studied how cities worldwide have solved this issue. Time and again it has been proven that flyovers are not a solution and Delhi is a perfect example of that,” said Kaajal Maheshwari, an active member of Hyderabad Rising told The Hindu.