Telangana: Tree felling at Kanche Gachibowli continues unabated

No action initiated by either Forest Department or Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation

HYDERABAD: As per rules, not a single tree can be felled even in a residential house or on the roadside without permission from the Forest Department or the local municipality or municipal corporation.

However, despite many trees being razed on the contentious 400 acres at Kanche Gachibowli since the last two days, no action is being initiated by the Forest Department or the GHMC. Forest officials however said it was not clear whether it was happening in their jurisdiction or not.

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“The said lands do not come under the purview of the Forest Department. There was a controversy over the land ownership and it is also unclear if trees were being felled or bushes were being cleared from the land,” a forest official said, adding that the department could initiate action only after ascertaining if it was classified as forest land. If bushes were being cleared, no permission was required from the department, he said.

If the Forest Conservation Act rules were not applicable in the said lands, then local municipal officials can initiate action under the Water, Land and Trees Act (WALTA Act). As per the Act, no felling of the trees is permitted without the prior permission of the designated officer. Any individual, organisation, irrespective of public or private or any government department should ensure protection of trees and their branches while developing infrastructure or carrying out other activities.

In case of laying new roads or widening existing roads involves cutting of existing trees, the authority may issue suitable guidelines for protection of such tree growth as it deems fit, officials said.