Supreme Court intervenes to halt tree felling in Kancha Gachibowli

The bench, comprising justices Bhushan R Gavai and AG Masih, also ordered the Registrar (Judicial) of the Telangana high court to conduct an on-site inspection and submit an interim status report by 3:30pm today.

“The news items show that the authorities, taking advantage of long holidays over the weekend, have rushed through in felling the trees. Additionally, the forest is said to be home to eight species of scheduled animals,” noted the bench in its order.

The apex court’s intervention follows media reports highlighting large-scale clearing of green cover in the Kancha Gachibowli forest area over the long weekend. The reports suggested that authorities had taken advantage of the holidays to expedite deforestation, threatening the habitat of at least eight scheduled animal species. Senior advocate K Parameshwar, who has been assisting the bench as an amicus curiae, in environmental matters, brought the issue to the notice of the court.