Hyderabad: Fridays for Future holds protest to save green cover

Hyderabad: To protect the green cover, especially the KBR National Park and Mrugavani National Park, the Global Climate Strike Movement Youth Organisation Fridays for Future, Hyderabad chapter, organised a human artistic expression on Friday at Mrugavani National Park.

With the theme of don't want our# LungsIn Black, the protest highlighted environmental issues which are yet to be addressed by the State government. The group demanded the government to protect the green cover, stop encroachment of the open spaces and chopping of trees.

According to the protesters, we have all unintentionally been ignorant and that has caused increase in city temperatures, pollution and flooding. As the State, though known for 'Harita Haram', is also the highest tree-cutting State in the country. As per reports, there is a plan to axe more than 3,000 trees in the buffer zones of the KBR and Mrugavani National Parks. About 1,000 Banyan trees planted during the Nizam's time have been earmarked for widening highway. For the past five years Strike has been organised and as a result many citizens have understood how nature is important and many came forward; but it is not enough until the government awakes.

Said Kaajal Maheshwari, a volunteer of Fridays for Future,"our protest is to awaken the citizen as well the government to stop exploiting the green cover. As it is a never-ending battle- the KBR park case has almost taken six years and I'm not sure how much more time it will take. We don't have power and funds;yet we have to fight all manipulations and the power games that come our way, it's exhausting. Recently Maharashtra government have come up with a law that any tree which is more than 50-year-old cannot be cut. Everybody needs to pitch, instead of just applauding from the stands then only we can awake the government."

Said Vanita Khatter, working professional and a green warrior,"to awake people to protect the ecosystem, we have used live human art to depict the fact - that you may look impressive on the outside, but the fact is from the inside , your lungs are getting impacted; they are turning unhealthy."

Abdus Sami, another volunteer, stated, "our demonstration is not just for the elected representative, but for people of Hyderabad who need to wake up to the reality of climate change as their personal issue. We need to start asking for ecology over economy – remember the consumer has the power and that is you".