Hyderabad activists hug trees near KBR Park as nearly 2,000 felled for flyovers
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Hyderabad: Protesters hugged trees near Kasu Brahmananda Reddy (KBR) National Park on Sunday in a demonstration reminiscent of the 1970s Chipko Movement, after videos of the tree hugging went viral amid widespread anger over large scale felling around the park.
The demonstrations follow reports that nearly 2,000 trees have been cut across stretches surrounding KBR Park — including Jubilee Hills Check Post, Film Nagar, Mugdha Junction and the Indo American Cancer Hospital junction — to make way for seven flyovers, underpasses, road widening and median development works.
Telangana Today reported that about 1,200 trees were removed at seven junctions (Jubilee Hills Check Post, KBR Park entrance junction, Jubilee Hills Road No. 45, Film Nagar, Maharaja Agrasen Island, Indo American Cancer Hospital and Mugdha traffic junction) and another 800 on adjacent stretches.
GHMC officials defended the exercise, saying most affected trees were relatively young, around 10–12 years old. The Urban Biodiversity wing has yet to finalise sites to translocate roughly 50 trees; sources said suitable locations are expected to be identified before the monsoon.
Environmental groups and citizen collectives, however, say the loss of green cover in one of Hyderabad’s busiest corridors is unacceptable amid rising temperatures and rapid urbanisation, and have vowed to continue protests.