HYDERABAD: The city’s environmentalists have expressed concern over the recent proposal by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to construct six flyovers around the KBR Park.
In a letter to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy with 30 signatories, activists said the revised proposal is “disturbingly similar” to previous initiatives that met with opposition from citizens.
The main signatories - Dr Narasimha Reddy Donthi and Kaajal Maheshwari - said that a default 1 km-perimeter around parks has been mandated as Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZ). They alleged that the ESZ notification, currently under contention, was issued in “gross violation” of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change’s 2011 Guidelines for the Declaration of Eco-Sensitive Zones around National Parks and Sanctuaries.
The signatories said that implementing the proposal under the contested ESZ notification is “unscientific” and “irrational”.
‘Consider alternatives’
The activists said the traffic congestion around KBR Park needs to be studied and analysed from a wider perspective. Alternative routes and traffic diversion strategies must be explored, they added.
The activists appealed to the chief minister to declare the entire walkway as ESZ. Based on consultations, the zone can have regulated development such as a restriction on high-rise buildings, road usage patterns and vehicular movement with a transparent approval process, they suggested.
The signatories demanded a thorough enquiry into the procedural violations and “irrational” reduction of the ESZ that threaten the park’s integrity.
The activists requested Revanth to scrap the proposal and withdraw all proposals, tenders and projects related to roads, flyovers, tunnels, multilevel parking and bridges around KBR Park immediately.