Hyderabad: Cricket and football players on Sunday foiled an attempt to use Khursheed Jah Ground located in the old city of Hyderabad to increase green cover in the city.
It was being tried to plant saplings in the ground as part of Haritha Haram programme launched by the state government.
Old city of Hyderabad has only three grounds for cricket and foot ball namely Quli Qutub Shah Stadium, Barkas Ground and Khursheed Jah Ground. These three grounds are also insufficient for the population of old city. Despite the fact, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) was digging pits in an effort to plant saplings in the Ground.
However, after stiff resistance by the cricket and football players, the officials were forced to return. Locals who use the ground for playing and doing exercises advised the officials of GHMC to plant trees bordering the playground instead of planting them in the middle of the ground, thus ensuring the safety of the ground as well as preservation of the environment.
According to GHMC sources, the Ground was selected under the plan to increase forest area in the city but after the resistance from the players it has been decided to review the plan.
Telangana Haritha Hāram is a flagship programme of the Telangana Government envisages to increase the present 24% tree cover in the State to 33% of the total geographical area of the State and it was formally launched by Telangana Chief Minister Sri K Chandrasekhar Rao on July 3rd 2015.