The Supreme Court’s recent stay on clearing of a forest in Hyderabad has prompted the state government to shelve plans to build a tech park. Judicial interventions and an inclusive definition of forests show that development projects cannot take precedence over green concerns, explains Ritwik Sharma
Row over forest land in Hyderabad
The Supreme Court recently halted the felling of trees at the Kancha Gachibowli forest after students of University of Hyderabad and civil society protested the Telangana government’s deforestation drive in the 400-acre area adjacent to the campus. The apex court issued an interim stay order and a stern warning against the state chief secretary as it sought answers and listed the matter for hearing on April 16. The Telangana High Court has also deferred a hearing, but the row has not yet subsided. The state government has erected signboards stating the disputed land belongs to the Telangana Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC), an act that protesters have termed as a violation of the Supreme Court order. In February, the state government had announced plans to auction the 400 acres to build information technology (IT) parks. After the court’s intervention, it is now planning to build a 2,000-acre “eco park” which will include land occupied by the university that will be relocated to a proposed “net-zero” Future City on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
Forest ecosystem or part of the city’s IT corridor?
The disputed area is part of a 2,300-acre of land initially allotted for the University of Hyderabad, which was founded in 1974. Over time, the state government has carved out several land parcels from this area for public purposes. The unified Andhra Pradesh government controversially handed over the 400 acres to a private sports management company in 2003, but following a regime change the agreement was annulled a couple of years later. The land was subsequently handed over to the TGIIC by the government as part of its plan to auction it for IT and infrastructure projects.
However, the 400 acres have neither been officially demarcated nor notified as a forest, despite it being a part of the university’s forest ecosystem. The Revanth Reddy-led state government is counting on this legal technicality — the lack of a title deed — to develop the land in Gachibowli, which is a part of the city’s booming IT corridor.
How the law defines a forest
The Supreme Court, in a landmark judgment in TN Godavarman Thirumulpad vs Union of India, had broadened the definition of “forest” to qualify any land with forest cover, regardless of official categorisation. Such land, according to the court, must be protected under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. Last year, it also directed the states and Union Territories to act in accordance with the 1996 definition for identifying and preserving forest land, and not based on the 2023 amendments to the Forest Act which were criticised as diluting safeguards and had allegedly led to 1.97 lakh sq km of land being excluded from forest area. Kancha Gachibowli has around 700 plant species, and 237 bird species, besides hosting wild animals. Some have also urged the state government to designate the area as a national park to protect it from further deforestation. A Supreme Court appointed committee has inspected the area this week and will submit a report.
Hyderabad an outlier in office leasing
Even as the Congress-led state government has faced criticism over the felling of trees, opposition leader KT Rama Rao has questioned its intent to develop IT parks. Citing a report by Colliers, he pointed out that the first quarter of 2025 saw a 41% decline in office leasing in Hyderabad and asked the government to first focus on addressing this instead of creating more office spaces. Only Kolkata (50%) fared worse than Hyderabad out of the top seven markets. Bengaluru and Delhi NCR together drove about half of the total leasing and two-third of the new supply during Q1 2025. Chennai’s office space demand almost doubled at 2.9 million square feet in Q1 2025, led by select large deals by Technology firms, the report noted. However, its data also shows that growth in rentals was higher in select micro-markets including in Hyderabad where they are situated in or are near the IT corridor.
Development versus environment
The protests in Hyderabad have once again raised the issue of development projects being carried out at the cost of the environment. Even if the state government eventually goes ahead with its plan of creating an eco park, it would lead to human interference in a forest. In recent years, similar public resistance was also seen in Mumbai’s Aarey colony, which, like Kancha Gachibowli, also serves as the city’s green lung. A portion of Aarey was declared a reserved forest in 2020 after protests over a state government decision to fell trees to build a car shed for a Metro project. As recently as in January, the Supreme Court has directed the Mumbai municipal body to not allow any felling of trees without its permission. With cities in India seeing an increase in temperature across seasons, the importance of urban forest cover as carbon sinks cannot be ignored.