Deforestation in Kancha Gachibowli could raise Hyderabad temperature: Report
Long celebrated as Hyderabad's verdant lungs, a large portion of Kancha Gachibowli forest (KGF) in Telangana's Rangareddy district was mercilessly razed to make way for a gleaming new IT park. It was done despite a report flagging major environmental consequences of destroying the forest area.An Ecological Heritage Report prepared by ecologist Arun Vasireddy and wildlife photographer Sriram Reddy, both alumni of the University of Hyderabad, said deforestation of the KGF will lead to a temperature increase of 1-4 degrees Celsius in the adjoining localities of Tellapur, Nallagandla and Gachibowli.advertisementThe KGF deforestation will force locals and corporate entities like Microsoft, Infosys and Wipro to pay more power tariffs, it said.
Satellite images indicate the removal of nearly 2 sq km of vegetation between March 30 and April 2.
The KGF is home to 233 bird species and 72 tree species, supporting over 40,000 trees and diverse wildlife. Students from the University of Hyderabad and ecologists have described the forest clearing operation as systematic environmental destruction of the 400-acre land.The forest sits at the highest point of the Manjira basin, playing a crucial role in preventing floods and sustaining freshwater lakes.advertisement'Every drop of water preserved here will affect thousands of hectares of land and the entire basin itself,' the report mentions. With industries located at Bollaram Industrial Area, which is another high point, the hydrological security of the basin needs to retain KGF's clean and fresh water to preserve the sanctity of the canals that ultimately merge into the Manjira.
WHY IS GACHIBOWLI IMPORTANT?According to the Status of Forests Report, Telangana has 27,292 sq km of forest area, about 24% of the state's total geographical area. Of this, 19,696.23 sq km is reserved forest, 6,953.47 sq km is protected forest and the remaining 642.30 sq. km is unclassified. But forests and biodiversity in Telangana have been shrinking due to various irrigation and road construction projects since the state's formation in 2014.At least 27 bird species found in the KGF are listed under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act (1972), which grants the highest level of legal protection in India. It shelters vulnerable species like the Indian Rock Python, Bengal Monitor Lizard, Star Tortoise, Indian Chameleon, and Spotted Deer—all flagged under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, the world's benchmark for tracking species at risk of extinction.advertisementAlso thriving here are 46 reptile species, 13 amphibians, and 32 bird species marked as high priority under the 2023 State of India's Birds (SoIB) report—a key tracker of conservation status and population trends.The forest is the only home to Murricia hyderabadensis, a unique spider discovered in 2010. 'It is found nowhere else in the world,' the report stated.'Kancha Gachibowli is in a crucial zone that also houses ISB, IIT, Wipro, Accenture, Amazon and the financial district,' it said. And preserving it is key to safeguarding the lake and hill ecosystem that sustains Hyderabad.STUDENTS PROTESTS & POLITICAL UPROARA political row has erupted in Telangana with the opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) vowing to reclaim the land and transform it into a sprawling ecological zone when it returns to power.State ministers Bhatti Vikramarka and D Sridhar Babu, who are also alumni of the University of Hyderabad, urged Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Forest Minister Konda Surekha to witness the fading wilderness of KGF. Ecologist Vasireddy also called for an honest and reliable environmental impact assessment of the project.advertisement'It costs nothing to maintain this green space. It costs thousands of crores to create even the smallest version of it,' said Vasireddy.
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