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.

The bench also inquired about the composition of the committee tasked with identifying forest land, specifically questioning the inclusion of certain officers who appeared to have no relevance to the matter. Finally, it demanded a detailed account of what the State was doing with the felled trees.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court passed an interim order staying tree-felling and directing the registrar (judicial) of the Telangana HC to inspect the site and submit a report by 3.30pm. When the matter was taken up at 3.45pm, the bench noted that the registrar's report revealed an "alarming picture", showing widespread deforestation. The report included images of peacocks and deer fleeing from the destruction.