Hyderabad: The government of Telangana on Thursday submitted its report to the Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC), which began its inspection of 400-acre land at Kancha Gachibowli near Hyderabad Central University (HCU) following allegations that the authorities resorted to tree cutting in violation of environmental norms.
After a visit to the land to assess the ground situation, the four-member CEC, headed by Siddhant Das, had a meeting with the state government officials.
Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari, Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC) MD Vishnuvardhan Reddy, Director General of Police Jitender and senior officials from Law, Revenue and Forest departments attended the meeting.
The state government officials submitted a report with all records pertaining to the land. They also briefed the panel on the recent developments.
The panel also had separate meetings with representatives of student groups, Hyderabad Central University authorities and leaders of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Student groups, who had staged protests over tree cutting on the land, explained their viewpoint to the panel, which comprised members CP Goyal, Sunil Limaye, and JR Bhatt.
After the meeting with student bodies at MCRHRDI, the CEC met BRS leaders at a hotel. BRS leaders led by former minister T. Harish Rao presented their report to the panel.
The governing council of HCU explained their stand on the land and provided all the details.
At another meeting, BJP MPs apprised the panel of the situation created by the tree cutting.
The CEC will hold consultations with NGOs and other stakeholders on Friday and submit its report to the Supreme Court on April 16.
Earlier, senior officials accompanied the committee members during the field visit.
Police made elaborate security arrangements on the HCU campus and the adjoining land in view of the recent protests by students over tree felling by TGIIC.
The TGIIC has installed boards at the 400-acre site, stating that the land belongs to the Telangana government.
The CEC is undertaking the visit at the direction of the Supreme Court, which stayed tree felling and other works by the TGIIC.
The apex court on April 3 took serious note of the alleged destruction of vast green cover by the TGIIC in violation of environmental norms.
A bench of Justice B. R. Gavai and Justice A. G. Masih had asked Telangana Chief Secretary what was the urgency to undertake development activity, including the clearing of trees.
The apex court’s observations came after the Registrar of the Telangana High Court visited the land and submitted a report on its direction the same day.
The registrar stated in his report that about 100 acres of land had been cleared. Observing that it is a serious matter, the bench wanted to know if the authorities had required permission.
The court observed that even if it’s not forest land, the permission of the CEC should be taken to cut trees. It asked CEC to visit the site and submit a report by April 16.
The apex court also asked the state government to file an affidavit and posted the matter for further hearing on April 16.
The court heard the matter after senior advocate K. Parmeshwar, the amicus curiae in forest cases, made an oral mention of tree felling on the land.
The state government has already passed an order allotting the land to TGIIC for developing the same and auctioning it for setting up IT parks. The government claims that there is no forest on the land.
(IANS)
