At a time when the water bodies in the city and the surrounding areas are gradually disappearing due to unprecedented level of encroachments and all the preventive measures of the government proved ineffective to stem the tide, the nature lovers say the proposed translocation of the age old banyan trees at Chevella sounds a death knell.
They said the trees are heritage wealth and are store houses of fresh air that considered as breath analyzers for the human race gradually limping towards a climatic catastrophe.
It is against this background the nature lovers, on the eve of Deepavali, gathered the same place where the banyan trees are standing tall and register their protest against the proposed move that, if implemented, would cast a shadow over the ambient environment and deprived the native people from their inherited heritage wealth.
Standing tall at the countryside of the National Highway-163 all the way from Hyderabad to Manneguda, these over a thousand Banyan trees are of heritage nature planted by the Nizam of Hyderabad nearly 100 years ago. However, the proposed four-lane road project planned by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) raises a serious threat to these age old trees.
On a total length of 45 kilometers long stretch over 10,000 trees forms a canopy of vegetation that include over a thousand Banyan trees waiting for the axe to fall. This includes the last-remaining scrub forests of Mudimyal and Kandlapally–home to many grassland specialists, including the migrating Harriers and the rare Tawny Eagles listed as ‘vulnerable species’ in the IUCN Red List.
A solidarity protest that held on the eve of Deepavali celebrations around the Chevella Banyans are organised by a civic action group called ‘Nature Lovers of Hyderabad’ comprising naturalists, bird-watchers, scientists and lay public with an interest in the environment.
“We have suggested alternate routes including modes of highway planning which are based on NHAI road guidelines. When there are ways to manage the traffic better, axing these trees – a living heritage is absolutely preposterous,” says Asiya Khan, who is a part of the organising group called “Nature lovers of Hyderabad”.
Kaajal Maheshwari of the “Save KBR National Park” campaign said, “The pandemic whiplash now make people understand the danger that ecological imbalance can cause. Citizens across the country realised this incontrovertible fact and are raising their voices against any such move intended to harm to the nature especially the trees. Governments need to know that people are not naive to get fooled by plantation drives, celebrity endorsements and false news reports. A government that genuinely works towards a habitable city will continue to stay in power and this event only further strengthens this fact.”
“Our Banyans of Chevella are our heritage, our pride, and our beauty. We will protect them and preserve them,” asserted Elahe Hiptoola, noted film producer/actress.
