The A P High Court on Wednesday took up the cause of preserving the biodiversity of the 274-acre Botanical Garden situated at Hi-Tec City in Ranga Reddy district where several commercial complexes have come up in the name of eco-tourism.
The division bench headed by acting chief justice Ghulam Mohammed would hear the case on Thursday and would notify the Union forests and environment ministry,the state municipal and urban development department,chief conservator of forests,Ranga Reddy district collector and the GHMC commissioner asking them to explain their stand on the reported apprehensions about the plans to hand over the 274-acre forest land with an estimated worth of Rs 2,700 crore to big companies to build eco-tourism projects along with multiplex theatres and commercial malls in the area.
The bench suo motu took up the matter in response to a report that appeared in a vernacular daily highlighting the path of destruction of this park from 2001-2002 during which the state government leased out three parcels of land in this park to three private entities in the name of eco-tourism.Dilara Tourism was given 51 hectares,while Hyderabad Bird Park and Track India were given 12 hectares and 45 hectares respectively there.
These firms are now reportedly felling huge trees and started construction activity without taking any permission from the GHMC.Earlier,when Jairam Ramesh was Union environment and forests minister,following complaints from the local people,he called for a report from K S Reddy,a senior official from his ministry,and based on his report Ramesh immediately stayed all the approvals granted to the private players there and set up a high level committee to look into the episode.
The committee reportedly directed the forest officials to fill all the earth that was dug there. Despite this,neither the forest officials filled the area nor the GHMC officials moved forward to demolish the illegal structures there
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