HYDERABAD: The National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) has put the ball in Telangana government’s court the issue of construction of multilevel flyovers at six junctions outside the KBR National Park as part of Strategic Road Development Plan (SRDP). The standing committee of NBWL in its 44th meeting held on July 29 decided that it has nothing to do with the project. “After discussions, the standing committee felt that the National Board for Wildlife has got no role in this matter. Hence it may be decided at the state level,’’ the meeting said.
When contacted, Telangana principal chief conservator of forests PK Jha said that the NBWL is right in taking the decision. He said that NBWL takes up only those cases wherein a project either falls in a protected forest area, or in the eco-sensitive zone of a protected area which is also a forest area or in ESZ of a protected area which is not a forest area but the project itself requires environmental clearance. Jha said that the SRDP project at six junctions around KBR National Park does not fall in either of these categories. The 1,400 trees proposed to be chopped for SRDP project do not fall in KBR National Park, or in ESZ of the national park. Moreover, SRDP project does not even require EC.
The project, however, was still sent to NBWL because National Green Tribunal had earlier ordered that the ministry of environment and forests has to take an appropriate decision on the matter after some citizens approached the NGT. It may be brought to notice here that KBR park does not have an ESZ, which is yet to be finalised. As per sources, Hyderabad collector has prepared a draft for new ESZ of KBR National Park and forest officials confirmed that the new ESZ has been planned in such a way that it will be located at varying distances from the park’s boundary and will not include the area of 1,400 trees. As there is no finalised ESZ for KBR park, permission for chopping of 1,400 trees was given by the district-level Tree Protection Committee under the Water Land and Trees Act, 2002.
The then Andhra Pradesh government had declared ESZ of KBR National Park in 2015 as 25-30 meters from the park’s boundary, which would have encompassed area, where the 1,400 trees to be chopped, are located. However, the 2015 ESZ lapsed as it passed deadline of 545 days without being finalised.