April 15, 2025
Citizen Action Saved a Forest in Hyderabad
When communities mobilise, courts listen, and forests can be saved
What's happening?
- The government proposed auctioning 400 acres of forested Kancha Gachibowli land in Hyderabad, triggering massive student and environmentalist protests.
- The forest harbors over 450 flora and fauna species and functions as an urban lung. Deforestation would eliminate a carbon sink, worsen urban heat island effects, and harm groundwater recharge.
Why should you care?
- The High Court and later Supreme Court intervened, ordering work stoppage and forest restoration and protection.
- This is a story of citizens standing up and winning. It shows that when communities mobilise, courts listen, and forests can be saved.