Hyderabad: Trees that are older than a century are under stress due to a steel bridge being constructed from Indira Park to VST by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).
Road widening works, that is part of the project is currently in progress. The estimated cost of the four-lane elevated corridor project is Rs 350 crore. The steel bridge will be constructed over NTR Stadium, Ashok Nagar, RTC ‘X’ Roads and Baghlingampally junctions. Construction of a new boundary wall at Indira park (apart from the one in place) is underway.
Varieties like Copper pod, Pongamia, Neem, Pink poi, African tulip and Peepal are part of either translocation or felling to make places for the steel bridge to come up. “We will not fell a single tree without the permission of the forest department. There is a procedure to follow. They (forest department) will intimate us regarding the requirement and cost of translocation,” said Devanand, chief engineer (maintenance) of the municipal body.
Bureaucrats from the Forest Department, Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) and members from Forum for Better Hyderabad, a city-based environmental protection group are part of the Tree Protection Committee (TPC) which reports to the Forest Department with regards to clearance.
The Divisional forest officer, Hyderabad district when approached for comment said that permission to fell/translocate has been given. “It is clearly road widening. Some trees are translocated and some which are not suitable for translocation must be felled. Right now I cannot say anything about the number of trees,” he added.