HYDERABAD: In their overenthusiasm to help in creating ideal facilities to host a successful Formula-E race early next year, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) officials have started chopping down trees in their prime on NTR Marg.
Ironically, the organisers of the Hyderabad leg are defeating the very purpose with which Formula-E was created — to “push the development of new technologies needed for low-carbon and cleaner future”.
A number of trees on footpaths as well as on the central medians are being chopped to develop a special racetrack. A Formula E race will be held for the first time in India when Hyderabad hosts the event on February 11, 2023.
Environmentalists, understandably, are upset by the HMDA’s move. They opine that the State government is sending the wrong signal by taking this kind of measure to host a Formula-E race. It appears that the government is supporting the corporates and promoting a kind of development that favours the super wealthy, they said.
While opposing the move, environmentalist K Purushotham Reddy said: “This decision to chop down the trees is of great concern for all of us. The State government is sending the wrong signal, especially when the world is meeting in Egypt for the Conference of the Parties (COP 27) on climate change. This indicates to what the government’s priorities are. Unfortunately, most States in the country are not worried about sustainable development. Their focus seems to be on helping the super-rich. They are moving in the wrong direction and favouring corporates.”
Sending the wrong signal
Environmentalists, understandably upset, say that the State government is sending the wrong signal by taking this kind of measure to host a Formula-E race