The Central Empowered Committee (CEC) set up by the Supreme Court in the ongoing Kancha Gachibowli row at the University of Hyderabad (UoH) has come to the conclusion that the entire 2374 acres which the Telangana government wanted to take over for industrialisation prima facie “appears to have all characteristics of a forest.”
“Prima facie, based on its natural appearance and known ecological richness, the entire area measuring Ac. 2374-02 guntas, including the subject land in Kancha Gachibowli village—recorded as "Kancha Astabal Poramboke Sarkari" and assigned to the University—appears to have all characteristics of a forest. To verify this, the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) initially examined before-and-after photographs submitted by individuals and further analyzed biodiversity zones identified in the 2009 WWF University of Hyderabad study by overlaying them on a Google Earth map,” the CEC report explained.
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The CEC noted that the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh government had submitted recommendations in 1997 which the forest department had not acted upon and asked for a vegetation density survey by the Forest Survey of India (FSI). Following the as was a CEC’s request, the FSI commenced its work, and the Congress government in Telangana handed over Keyhole Markup Language (KML) files (file format used to display geographic data in earth browsers such as Google earth and Google maps) on April 10.
The Director General of FSI has indicated that the final report will require approximately two more weeks to be presented and a team of the FSI is presently in Hyderabad working on the survey.
The CEC report also noted that based on the correspondence between the Telangana Chief Secretary and the Chairperson of the CEC, it was confirmed that the Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC) has executed a mortgage deed for the subject land located in Kancha Gachibowli.
“This mortgage was created in favour of Beacon Trusteeship Limited to secure non-convertible bonds issued by TGIIC under the “TSIIC Bonds 2024-25” scheme, with a value of up to Rupees ten thousand crores. The mortgage involves the deposit of title deeds to establish a first-ranking exclusive security interest over the land, including any present or future structures and development rights,” the CEC report read.
Noting that the Chilukala Kunta is part of the mortgaged land, the CEC argued that the action taken by the state government raises concerns over the ongoing disputes over the ownership and ecological value of the land, as well as the potential presence of forest-like characteristics currently under review by the Forest Survey of India.
“The manner in which TGIIC cleared the land raises serious questions regarding both intent and procedure. There was no justifiable reason for proceeding without first preparing a detailed project report,” the CEC further added.
Kancha Gachibowli, a 400 acre land parcel has found itself at the heart of a controversy in Telangana’s capital Hyderabad when University of Hyderabad (UoH)’s students 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.
Kancha Gachibowli falls under the western part of Hyderabad, an area well known owing to the presence of the city’s financial district, a concrete jungle with little green space left. Scientists and environmental experts TNM spoke earlier had said it was incumbent on the state to prove that Kancha Gachibowli was not ecologically rich to justify auctioning the land.
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