After the showdown between the students of the University of Hyderabad (UoH), more commonly known as the Hyderabad Central University (HCU) and the Telangana Police yesterday, March 30, authorities started levelling the forest cover on the 400-acre land in Kancha Gachibowli.
The land, which the Telangana Government plans to auction for industrial development, is home to a thriving forest ecosystem that hosts several ecologically sensitive plant and animal species and two major lakes and rock formations.
Students of the university, as well as several environmental and activist groups in Hyderabad, have been urging the government not to auction the land. They argue that doing so would put the land’s biodiversity in danger.
According to Umesh Ambedkar, President of the HCU Student Union (HCUSU), Police entered the land with bulldozers, fully prepared to clear the forest yesterday afternoon.
When students caught a whiff of what was happening and reached the site to confront the police, several of them were violently detained, including HCUSU General Secretary Nihad Sulaiman, he said.
Videos of students being beaten and forcefully detained by the police have been circulating on social media platforms.
Activists, as well as Opposition leaders such as Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) leaders KT Rama Rao and Harish Rao and Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) leader Bandi Sanjay, were quick to condemn the excessive police action on the students.
Umesh added that the authorities are working swiftly through the land, which could spell disaster for the forest cover.
“The levelling began yesterday (March 30) and even continued through the night. They are clearing off trees without a break. At this rate, 200 acres of forest land will have been cleared off by tomorrow,” he lamented.
Clandestine operation, allege students
On March 27, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed by environmental activist Uday Krishna in the Telangana High Court, seeking to designate the 400-acre land as an ecologically sensitive zone in the city.
The matter has been listed for April 7, ie next Monday.
As a result, students expressed suspicion with the timing of the Telangana Government to clear off the land over the weekend.
“This is an attempt to erase proof of the existence of biodiversity and forest cover from the land. The government wants to remove all obstructions ahead of the hearing so that the auction can go smoothly,” claimed G Mohith, PhD scholar at HCU & leader of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI).
“Fifty acres of forest have been cleared overnight to render the land bare,” he added.
Further, students allege that they received no information from the administration regarding the clearing.
“The police closed off one entrance to the campus and placed heavy barricades. They tried to carry the levelling out by keeping us in the dark,” said Nihad.
Further, he alleged that students who tried to confront the police and protest against the action were detained and held at various police stations, with First Investigation Reports (FIRs) with false charges of “obstruction of duties” filed against two students.
“There is heavy police on the campus even now, and the bulldozers are showing no signs of stopping,” he said.
The clearing is being carried out despite Minister for IT (Information Technology), Electronics, Communications, Industries and Commerce D Sridhar Babu’s assurances in the Telangana Legislative Assembly on March 24 that “not a single acre” of the 400-acre land “will be touched”.
“Will not back down,” say students
The students of HCU, as well as the HCUSU, told EdexLive that they are planning to ensure the protection of the forest cover on the land and its biodiversity.
“We plan to turn this into a long-standing issue and launch a full-scale agitation against the government to prevent the auction,” Mohit said.
Umesh added that the HCUSU will release an action plan later in the day today, Monday, March 31. “We are currently mobilising students on this issue,” he informed.
According to Nihad, the fight is also against the administration, not just the state government.
“The administration did nothing when police personnel and bulldozers entered the land, and students were detained. They pulled back security as the campus was being barricaded. This is a betrayal against the student community of HCU,” he explained, adding that the administration must apologise to the students at large.
The disputed land belongs to the Government of Telangana, which allotted it to the Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC), through which the auction is slated to take place.
Students and environmental activists, rallying under the call to “Save HCU”, have been trying to prevent the auction of the land since its announcement, citing dangers to the land’s thriving biodiversity.
EdexLive reached out to Vishnu Vardhan Reddy, IRS, Managing Director of TGIIC, for comments. This copy will be updated with them when we receive them.
