India's Vanishing Green Cover - Will We Act Before It's Too Late?
Did you know, India has lost a whopping 2.33 million hectares of tree cover since 2000, that’s an area slightly more than the size of the entire state of Meghalaya, quoted The Wire India. Unseasonal rain showers, hotter summers, uninvited floods, loss of fauna, and the list keeps going on…When are we self-centred humans going to wake up to the consequences of our behaviour, end up causing harm, and start focusing on the present rather than the future?
The Supreme Court ordered the Telangana government on Thursday, April 3, to halt its “alarming deforestation activities” in the Kancha Gachibowli forest area.
This followed the Telangana government’s announcement in February that it would auction off about 400 acres of forest land next to the University of Hyderabad (UoH) to construct IT parks. This is as good as a massive number of 145 public gardens, considering the average land area. I’m sure you’ve been to one, so you can only imagine how it would’ve looked if you mercilessly cut off 145 gardens just like that, overnight.
Forest areas, meant to be protected under law, are now battlegrounds for infrastructure projects, private development, and even the occasional ‘eco-tourism’ venture—because what better way to protect nature than to pave a road through it?
Kancha Gachibowli is among the last urban forests left in Hyderabad. Numerous species of birds, mammals, and reptiles can be found there, along with stunning rock formations and a wealth of biodiversity. It is essential for controlling the local environment because it provides shade, lowers temperatures, and raises humidity. According to statistics put together by the Living Planet Report 2022, in the last 50 years, loss of habitat, climate change and poaching are some of the major causes for a drop of 69% in world wildlife populations. (India has seen a 55 % loss over the last half-century.)
Meanwhile, the Telangana government claims that selling the land would not only boost its revenue but also draw in potential investments of Rs 50,000 crore and create up to 5 lakh jobs. The Gachibowli IT corridor is one of Hyderabad’s most expensive neighbourhoods, with incredibly high property prices. The night of 30 March 2025, peacocks and peahens were heard howling in pain and other animals were about to be displaced. This occurred as a result of the earth movers cutting down the trees on the forested area of Kancha Gachibowli.
Following widespread student protests, this ruling has now drawn the attention of the nation’s top courts. The Supreme Court ruled that any area covered by forests is considered “forest land,” even if it is not officially designated as such. It is also a serious violation of the wildlife and environmental laws to remove Schedule I species from forest cover without first obtaining an environmental impact assessment and environmental clearance.
What now?
All activities in the region have already been suspended by the Supreme Court’s ruling from April 3. However, the entire area would be covered by the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, if the CEC assessment finds that Kancha Gachibowli satisfies the requirements to be considered a forest. The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change would need to give its prior approval for any non-forestry use of this area. Furthermore, the implementing authorities may be subject to criminal and civil liability for noncompliance.
The Congress government seems to have broken several rules in its haste to remove the green cover. Tree cutting without authorisation is punishable by penalties and imprisonment (three months to one year) under the Telangana Forest Act, 1967. Hunting and habitat destruction are among the laws that carry a three-seven-year jail sentence, a fine of Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000, or both.
But let’s pause for a moment and give credit where it’s due: politics always wins. Always. It wins over data, science, public interest, biodiversity, and whatnot. A forest may take hundreds of years to grow, but it can be cleared in a single term with the right political will—and the right contractor.
India was once, yes you read that right, once, a place that flourished with its lush green forests, its pristine rivers & oceans, and numerous indigenous creatures, now a few endangered and extinct as well. From the great Himalayas to the Western Ghats and from the Thar to the Sundarbans, India has had its treasures, but one could never imagine what it has become today. The glaciers are melting, floods are destroying cities after cities, unseasonal rains in the western ghats have led farmers to take their lives, and the story doesn’t end here..It keeps getting unpredictable and destructive EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
So where did it all go wrong? You like big malls, don’t you? You are enjoying your WiFi services, aren’t you? More IT parks are giving you jobs! You are living in spacious flats! You are winning in life, yay, but wait, at the cost of what? Umm, your life, in the next few years.
“In the next 10 years, India’s climate is likely to experience increased temperatures, more frequent and intense heat waves, changes in precipitation patterns, and rising sea levels, impacting agriculture, water resources, and human health. These changes are predicted to exacerbate existing challenges like water stress and drought, while also leading to more severe storms and flooding,” – says the World Bank, yeah let that sink in please!
We adhere to the reassuring delusion that innovation will somehow repair the harm we have caused and that technology will miraculously fix all of our issues. It appears that we think we can manufacture our way out of a situation that we created. And thus, the Telangana forest problem is not just a regional issue. It serves as an upsetting reminder of how neglected environmental sustainability has been on a local and even national level. It demonstrates our extraordinary capacity to disregard the cautions embedded throughout our ecosystems.
Until then, carry on. Build more roads. Pour more concrete. And if you ever miss the forests, don’t worry—they’ll be available soon in your VR goggles, for a small subscription fee.
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