6 days ago
- General
- New Indian Express
Vana Mahotsavam 2025 to mark ecological restoration at agricultural varsity
HYDERABAD: In a major step towards ecological revival, the Telangana government will launch its flagship Vana Mahotsavam 2025 at Professor Jayashankar Telangana Agricultural University (PJTAU), Rajendranagar, on July 7. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy will inaugurate the event by planting saplings, reaffirming the state's commitment to restoring green cover using indigenous species.
The initiative kicks off a scientific restoration effort across 150 acres of PJTAU land long overrun by invasive weeds and exotic trees like eucalyptus and subabul. Once home to native species, the campus has been dominated by lantana, parthenium, prosopis juliflora (Sarkar Thumma), eucalyptus, and subabul, which disrupt local ecology and deplete groundwater.
A joint survey by HMDA Urban Forestry and PJTAU in January 2025 identified 3,521 subabul and 869 eucalyptus trees across four plantation blocks, later marked for removal with Forest department approval.
To ensure transparency, PJTAU held a public auction in May. As per a May 7 tender, 3,000 subabul and 521 eucalyptus trees were approved for felling. The highest bids: Rs 4,800/tonne for subabul (Madan Mohan, Sri Laxmi Wood Suppliers) and Rs 4,700/tonne for eucalyptus (Raghu Kumar, Sri Lorven Enterprises). ITC was awarded the extraction contract, and clearing began in mid-June.
