In a deeply troubling development for Hyderabad’s environment, a large portion of the Kancha Gachibowli Forest (KGF) in Telangana’s Rangareddy district has been cleared to make way for a new IT park despite clear warnings from environmental experts about its devastating ecological impact.
Often referred to as Hyderabad’s “green lung,” KGF has long served as a crucial ecological zone, sheltering 233 species of birds and 72 types of trees. Over 40,000 trees and various wildlife species have now been wiped out as bulldozers moved in, ignoring an Ecological Heritage Report authored by ecologist Arun Vasireddy and wildlife photographer Sriram Reddy, both alumni of the University of Hyderabad.
According to their report, the destruction of the forest will raise local temperatures by 1 to 4 degrees Celsius in surrounding areas like Tellapur, Nallagandla, and Gachibowli. The duo also emphasized the forest’s critical role in Hyderabad’s hydrological system, as it sits at the highest point in the Manjira basin, helping to prevent floods and replenish freshwater lakes.
“Every drop of water preserved here will affect thousands of hectares of land and the entire basin itself,” the report warned. The authors stressed that KGF’s role in maintaining hydrological security becomes even more important due to the presence of industries in the nearby Bollaram Industrial Area, another elevated zone in the region.
The area’s environmental value is unmatched. It’s the only known habitat of the Murricia hyderabadensis, a rare spider discovered in 2010 that exists nowhere else in the world. The forest is also home to the Indian Rock Python, Bengal Monitor Lizard, Star Tortoise, Indian Chameleon, and Spotted Deer—all of which are listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Alarmingly, 27 bird species found here are protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act (1972)—the highest level of protection available in India. Furthermore, the 2023 State of India’s Birds report lists 32 species from KGF as high conservation priorities.
According to the Status of Forests Report, Telangana has about 24% forest cover, but much of it has been shrinking due to infrastructure development since the formation of the state in 2014. Kancha Gachibowli’s forest loss adds to the worrying decline of biodiversity in the region.
The cleared land, located in a high-profile zone near institutions like ISB, IIT, and tech giants like Wipro, Accenture, and Amazon, has now become the center of a major political storm.
Opposition party Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has declared it will reclaim the deforested land and convert it into an ecological sanctuary if it comes back to power. Protests are mounting, led by University of Hyderabad students and several ecologists who accuse the state of enabling “systematic environmental destruction” of 400 acres.
Two state ministers, Bhatti Vikramarka and D Sridhar Babu, also alumni of the University of Hyderabad, have appealed directly to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Forest Minister Konda Surekha to visit the site and assess the irreversible damage done.
Ecologist Vasireddy made a passionate appeal: “It costs nothing to maintain this green space. It costs thousands of crores to create even the smallest version of it.”
As protests grow and experts demand a transparent and honest Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), the Kancha Gachibowli case has become a wake-up call on how unchecked urban development could erase Hyderabad’s last remaining natural treasures.
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