Land auction row: Congress versus University of Hyderabad stand-off continues

Government launches drive to clear land on court holiday leaving protesting students with no legal option

Hyderabad: The stand-off between the State government and the University of Hyderabad over the Telangana Industrial Infrastructure Corporation’s (TGIIC) move to auction 400 acres in Kancha Gachibowli is continuing, with the official machinery muscling its way into taking over the land using 40 excavators throughout Sunday night into Monday to clear the vegetation and level the land.

With Sunday and Monday being court holidays, any legal course for the protesting students was effectively shut out by the government.

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Heavy police bandobast also prevented students from reaching the spot, making the State’s intentions clear that it would not back down from its stated intentions of putting up the land for auction.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister’s Office on Monday issued a statement, asserting that the land did not belong to the University of Hyderabad, and claimed that vested political interests were instigating the protests against the auction. It also claimed that the proposal would not affect the ecosystem or destroy the rock formations or lakes and that a survey was done in July 2024 along with University officials to demarcate the 400 acres.

However, the University, responding to this, refuted the claims of a survey of the varsity campus by revenue authorities, with Registrar Dr Divesh Nigam stating that the only action taken so far was a preliminary inspection of the land’s topography. The University also urged the State government to conserve the environment and biodiversity in the area.

Earlier in the day, despite the vociferous protest by varsity students, excavators continued what they began on Sunday, clearing the forested lands in Kancha Gachibowli. What began with eight excavators at the UoH east campus on Sunday afternoon, soon saw the number going up to 40 in the night to speed up the removal of trees, plants and levelling the land.

Videos of the nightlong action, with the desperate cries of peacocks and peafowl heard in the background, were shared widely on social media platforms. Students who attempted to break past the police barricades were forcibly shifted from the place. Several of those who were detained by the police on Sunday were reportedly released.

By evening, with no legal options available for them to stop the government action, the students rushed to Telangana Bhavan and met BRS working president KT Rama Rao. Assuring them of unwavering support from the BRS, Rama Rao questioned the Congress government’s ‘bulldozer politics’ and asked why the government was in such a hurry.

Condemning the police brutality against the protesting students, he criticised the Revanth Reddy administration of prioritising real estate profits over welfare of students, the environment and Hyderabad’s future.