HYDERABAD: As open lands become a precious commodity in Hyderabad, the existence of Mahavir Harina Vanasthali(MHV) National Park spread over 3,605 acres near Vanasthalipuram close to Vijayawada National Highway is coming under threat from people who are approaching the court in hordes and claiming huge chunks of the forest as their ancestral property.
On Friday, Hyderabad High Court dismissed 29 writ petitions filed by as many as 1,500 people claiming a huge 2,400 acres of the forest land, almost 67 percent of the national park, as their ancestral property.
Telangana forest department is gearing up itself to defend the national park from yet another attack. Ranga Reddy, District Forest Officer, Bheema Naik speaking to Express said that just a few days back another case was filed in the High Court by around 160 persons claiming a portion of the MHV National Park as their ancestral property.
The MHV National Park which came into existence in 1994 along with two other national parks - KBR National Park and Mrugavani National Park, are last remaining large tracts of natural green patches in and around Hyderabad, that serve as important lung spaces for the rapidly concretizing Greater Hyderabad.
Hayathnagar Forest Range Officer, Ravinder Reddy who played a key role in representing the case from forest department in court, said, “It is only in the last one and a half years that various groups started filing court cases claiming different portions of national park, as given to them during the time of Nizams. It has become a modus operandi for land grabbers to encroach the forest land. However, we won all the cases.”
Reddy added, “Since people started filing court cases, I have been receiving many calls from random numbers giving out threats, including death threats because of which I have stopped answering phone calls from unknown numbers.”
Telangana Forest Department in a media release on Saturday said, no claims were received by the then District Collector during process of demarcation and declaration of the more 3,605 acres of forest land under Mansoorabad division, as MHV National park in 1994. The protection wall around the national park was built by 1996. It is only after years after the national park came into existence, suddenly many people started filing petitions in the court claiming various portions of national park as their ancestral property.
Treasure trove of biodiversity
Mahavir Harina Vanasthali national park is home to a diverse range of species including spotted deer, black buck, four horned antelope, peafowls, wild boar, porcupine, monitor lizard and different species of snakes and birds. At a distance of around 20 km from Secunderabad, it can be accessed using buses and the metro.