Hyderabad: Chipco-like movement afoot to save KBR Park

Hyderabad: On Friday, more than 200 city-based green activists, walkers and representatives of NGOs gathered at the main entrance of Kasu Brahmananda Reddy National Park national park in Jubilee Hills. They tied their New Year resolution and messages to trees and resolved to protect the ecosystem of Hyderabad from the unplanned and unsustainable development taken up by civic authorities.

Since the Telangana government decided to shrink the walkway to declare the Eco Sensitive Zone (ESZ) around KBR five years ago, citizens and environmentalists have been relentlessly raising their voices. This time, following reports that no public hearing is conducted over the issue, but a new draft notification on Eco Sensitive Zone (ESZ) of KBR park was released, the activists are alerted and resolute more than ever to stop the destruction of nature in the name of development.

Beautiful rangolis were drawn by citizens using organic colours on the walkway with the simple message of '#SaveKBR.' Their messages to protect the environment were written on recycled paper and tied with jute thread to the trees that are feared would face the axe under the much questionable SRDP project of the Telangana government.

The citizens, who were awaiting a public hearing as mandated by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) are shocked to find that the walkway has already been shrunk and the ESZ notified to accommodate flyovers. There are allegations that the State Government approached the MoEF and falsely claimed to have conducted a public hearing. The activists point out that the said public hearing consultation file is not available due to the pandemic.

Fariha Syed, 16, who has been actively campaigning for 'Action against Climate Change,' crying foul, said: "People of Hyderabad have seen the worst in 2020 due to the pandemic and floods that ravaged the city and caused unprecedented damage to property and livelihoods. All this damage was caused by ecological imbalance and drives home the message – It's time to take the environment seriously"

"Whatever we do for the environment today is neither a service nor great achievement. It is a matter of survival. It is not the planet that needs us but we who need the planet," observed Kaajal Maheshwari who has been at the core of the #SaveKBR National Park campaign from the very beginning. She vowed: "We will continue educating people, submit representations, conduct peaceful drives, notify the media and present factual evidence as a legal process, if required"

Sriparna Das, a passionate animal lover and rescuer, states "With 6 flyovers just a few inches from the boundary, all the noise and dust pollution will wreak havoc on the park. The flora and fauna as well as the wildlife will either perish or move into urban spaces, leading to a wider human-wildlife conflict that is also one of the main reasons for the pandemic"