In a small setback to the state government, the Telangana High Court has directed that the clearance works on Kancha Gachibowli lands be stalled till Thursday, April 3.
The HC postponed the next hearing to April 3 on the petition. The Court was hearing Public Interest Litigations (PILs) filed by HCU students and Vata Foundation.
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While postponing the hearing, the Court asked the Telangana Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC) to stop all work. The lawyers asked for a stay as TGIIC was cutting the trees with bulldozers.
The petitioners said that even if the land belonged to the government, TGIIC must take note of the Supreme Court orders. They told the court that heavy vehicles were being used to uproot green trees.
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The lawyers for petitioners pointed out that a committee of experts should be constituted to remove trees from forest land, as per Supreme Court. If the land has fauna, then the committee has to visit the place and study it for a month, as per the Apex Court.
The Court was told that there were three lakes, many rocks and several species of birds and animals.
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However, the counsel for government argued that the land belongs to the state government. He further said that there were several hi-rise buildings around the area and that it was not a forest.
He also said many areas had peacocks, snakes and trees in Hyderabad, then they should be considered forests too.
After hearing both sides, acting Chief Justice Sujoy Paul postponed the hearing to Thursday and asked the works to be stopped till Thursday.
