The Telangana government appears to have gone back on its plan to auction a 400-acre land parcel in Kancha Gachibowli near the University of Hyderabad (UoH) amidst raging protests. The Revanth Reddy government is now said to be considering turning 2000 acres of land, including the UoH campus, into what it calls ‘one of the world’s largest eco-parks.’
Two government sources TNM spoke to said that a few ministers had proposed that Chief Minister Revanth Reddy consider saving a ‘lung space’ like Kancha Gachibowli. “Just like with the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRA), which CM Revanth set up to protect lakes, the ministers suggested that an eco-park be developed at Kancha Gachibowli,” a source told TNM. The CM is yet to make a decision, the source added.
A second source told TNM that under the new plan, the UoH campus would be shifted to Future City – a 30,000-acre parcel of land located between the Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar highway project planned by CM Revanth. The new university will also be allotted 100 acres with a Rs 1000 crore investment.
“Hopefully, the students won’t protest now. We have sacrificed thousands of jobs, students can take buses now to the new university campus. They hopefully won’t complain about the eco-park,” the second source further added.
Kancha Gachibowli, a 400 acre land parcel found itself at the heart of a controversy in Hyderabad when UoH’s student union protested against the Congress-led state government’s decision to call for bids to auction the 400 acres for IT and infrastructure projects. Students accused the state government of taking over one of the few ‘lung spaces’ and ecologically important parts of the city.
Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and the Congress party had said that the 400 acres is very much government land, and “not one acre of University land” has been touched. The government has been of the view that the land is not notified as forest land and is revenue land. The ‘Kancha’ in Kancha Gachibowli refers to ‘unproductive land,’ which the state argues is revenue land as per the earliest records.
Recently, the Supreme Court extended the Telangana High Court’s stay on the clearing of trees in the disputed land parcel. The government, on April 3, set up a three member committee comprising Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Industries and IT Minister D Sridhar Babu and Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy to consult with the UoH executive committee, the Joint Action Committee, civil society groups, students’ delegation, and other stakeholders to resolve and give a way forward in the issue.