HYDERABAD: There were no saplings in hand, no plantation drives and no speeches about sustainability. Instead, hundreds of citizens dressed in white assembled outside KBR National Park to hold a symbolic funeral for trees lost to development.
For campaigners, the issue extends beyond individual trees. They argue that the H-CITI project threatens 1,942 trees and could cause irreversibe damage.
The gathering was also shaped by deeply personal expressions of loss. Performance artist Ramani Mylavarapu compared the felling of trees to losing a family member. “Trees are like our mother, we are gathered here to mourn the death of the trees that are like our own mothers,” she said.
People also questioned about the project’s legal and environmental foundations. Volunteer Vijay Mallangi argued that the eco-sensitive zone extends beyond the park’s outer walkway and questioned the felling of trees within the restricted zone for flyovers and underpasses.
Others highlighted the broader ecological impact. Event organiser Sreeja Reddy urged authorities to consider the animals losing their habitat, while volunteer Teja stressed the need to preserve the park’s buffer zone to mitigate climate change.
As chants of ‘Flyovers vaddu, KBR maddu’ echoed through the gathering, protesters renewed their pledge to continue their fight to protect Hyderabad’s shrinking green cover, turning the occasion into not just a celebration of nature, but a defence of it.