SC halts tree felling near Hyd university

The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered an immediate halt to all developmental activities in Kancha Gachibowli, near the University of Hyderabad campus, expressing shock at the large-scale felling of trees across hundreds of acres and emphasizing that "until further orders, no activity of any sort, except the protection of trees already existing, shall be undertaken by the state".

- Utkarsh Anand and Ayesha Arvind

NEW DELHI/BENGALURU:

A bench comprising justices Bhushan R Gavai and AG Masih registered a suo motu case on the issue, warning that "in case any of the directions... are not complied with... chief secretary of the state shall be held personally liable."

Denouncing the "compelling urgency" exhibited by the state in clearing the areas, the court directed the chief secretary to submit an affidavit addressing several concerns. It sought an explanation regarding the urgency behind the developmental activities and asked whether the state had obtained Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) certification.