New Delhi: Clearance work, including felling of trees, on 400 acres of disputed land in Hyderabad’s IT hub Gachibowli was Wednesday stayed for a day by the Telangana High Court. Student protests against the bulldozing of land have, however, continued across Hyderabad Central University (HCU) campus for three consecutive days, and are alleged to have resulted in police lathi-charge.
The patch in question, with a rich variety of flora and fauna including deer, peacocks, wild boars and turtles, is part of about 2,500 acres of land allocated to HCU and has been at the centre of a row between the university and Telangana government for almost a week now.
The state, which claims to own the land, wants to auction it for the construction of IT parks and other projects and started deforestation work on the patch late Sunday, which has been stayed till the next date of court hearing, Thursday.
Currently, a large number of police personnel have been deployed across all sides of the HCU campus, with barricades set up near the east to prevent the protesting students from reaching the forest area. The students and teachers of HCU are demanding that the land be left untouched and police and bulldozers be removed immediately.
A student protest Sunday turned into a violent clash with the police. According to the students, at least 52 of their fellow protesters were allegedly dragged and taken to different police stations in Hyderabad. While the detained were released after a few hours, two PhD students from the political science department are alleged to have been arrested.
ThePrint reached out to Avinash Mohanty, Commissioner of Police for Cyberabad Metropolitan Police, with queries on the police action and a response is awaited. ThePrint also reached out to Habibullah Khan, SHO of Gachibowli police station but calls and a message went unanswered.
Late Sunday night, dozens of bulldozers started work on the forest patch. Visuals are being circulated on social media, showing deers, peacocks and wild birds purportedly trying to escape because of the clearance work. The visuals have led to students, teachers, activists and opposition parties questioning the government action and resultant ecological imbalance.
“This land looks like a forest, with so many species, peacocks, bees, birds, natural rock formations. Now, 200 acres have been flattened with bulldozers overnight,” one of the student protesters told ThePrint.
On Monday, the Telangana government said it was the sole owner of the land, and any dispute would be in contempt of court orders. “The revenue records clearly say the land is not forest land as reported in a section of the media, but is rather owned by the government,” said a statement from the Chief Minister’s Office.
Nagesh D., Congress spokesperson from Telangana, told ThePrint that he appreciated the students’ protests and that their activism demonstrated an “informed society” that values environmental conservation.
Addressing the land issue, he explained that the patch in question had been allocated to a private player by a previous government but was later reclaimed by the current dispensation through a Supreme Court battle. “Now, the government must consider sustainable development,” he stated, adding that the government’s actions were in “larger public interest”.
Regarding students’ view that the land should be used for educational purposes instead of IT development, Nagesh said “we live in a progressive society”, where land use must be optimised.
When asked about the viral visuals of displaced animals, he said: “My heart is feeling the pain when it comes to the biodiversity issue.” He, however, suggested that the video in circulation might not be authentic. “It could be a fake video.”
“The government would definitely take precautionary measures to protect them (wildlife), rehabilitate them, relocate them,” he added.
He further alleged that there was a lack of “responsible opposition” in the state, leading to “political propaganda” meant to “weaken the stand of the government”. He added that students need to base their activism on empirical data rather than “protesting blindly”.
ThePrint reached out to Ashish Jacob Thomas, Public Relations Officer of HCU, for a comment on the subject. He asked that the registrar be reached through official email. ThePrint is yet to receive a response from the registrar.
‘Police assaulted students’
Students at HCU described the situation on campus as “pathetic”, with heavy police presence and “forceful” land clearance operations.
A protesting student, who wished to stay anonymous, told ThePrint that the action of the government had led to barricading of the university gates, preventing students from moving in and out freely.
“They have blocked three department buildings—business administration, mathematics and theatre arts. They have set up some kind of police station inside the campus,” he alleged.
According to him, the land, originally part of the HCU estate, was allocated for an international sports complex nearly 15-20 years ago. “But, after a government change, the agreement was cancelled, and the company took the matter to court. Recently, the court ruled that the land belongs to the Telangana government, and they started clearing it overnight,” he explained, adding that the government intends to hand the land over to IT companies, transforming a biodiversity-rich area into a “concrete jungle”.
Another student from the School of Physics said that those residing in women’s hostels had heard peacocks screaming helplessly in the night, while many saw herds of deer running across the university roads, escaping from the bulldozers.
“It was heartbreaking. We always knew our campus was home to so many animals, but seeing them displaced like this was devastating,” the student told ThePrint, not wishing to be named.
Abhinav Rajat, a member of Students’ Federation of India (SFI), who is also a student of MA Communication course, said: “When we went to check, our union leaders had been detained. Later, when we marched to the clearance site, police beat us brutally and dragged us away. Female students were assaulted, their clothes torn.”
He added that the students were taken to different police stations—Madhapur, Gachibowli and Raidurg. “In the vehicles, students were punched, slapped and hit with helmets. No first aid, no water, nothing,” he alleged.
While most students were released after protests by student organisations, the police presence on campus still remains high. “Even now, police are roaming freely inside our campus,” Rajat said.
The students are planning to continue their protest and their demands are clear: “remove the police, remove the JCBs, stop the destruction, and let this land be used for education, not commercialisation,” said another student.
An ‘undemocratic’ act
On Tuesday, 40 professors met Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka to present their case for preserving the 400 acres adjoining the HCU campus as part of the university.
The University of Hyderabad Teachers’ Association (UHTA) held a protest Wednesday against the auction of land and the detention of students. Over 200 faculty members, non-teaching staff, and 700 students participated, said the UHTA in a statement.
A protest rally from Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Auditorium to the disputed land site was halted by the police, leading to a violent lathi-charge on students. The rally later moved to the university’s main gate, where teachers and student representatives addressed the media before marching to the administration office, the statement read.
UHTA demanded the immediate withdrawal of police from campus, an end to deforestation, and the unconditional release of arrested students. It urged the government to grant land title to the university, assess forest destruction and recognise the area as a bio-heritage reserve. It also called for compensation for lost land and reaffirmed that university land must be used solely for educational purposes.
Sathya Prakash, a professor of media and communications at HCU, told ThePrint that the university has been custodian of the land for the last 50 years and even if the government wants to claim it, it does not have the “authority” to “brazenly” raze the green cover and destroy the habitat of animals.
“There are forest Acts under which even the government cannot do this… many animals have died and the forest has been cleared, all of this has been done under police presence,” he said, adding that while the case goes for hearing in the Telangana High Court, the government has “used” the opportunity to “destroy” the green cover.
“They are not letting media or environmental groups inside and not even the elected representatives are being allowed in. This is deeply undemocratic,” said Prakash.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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