In just a matter of a few days, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has managed to make himself fall out of favour with the public. It’s all thanks to the state government’s decision to raze about 400 acres of land near the University of Hyderabad. Last week, the state landed up with JCBs inside the campus, leading to student protests. This was followed by a police crackdown.
Since then, the University of Hyderabad campus has been boiling over. The Telangana government shows no signs of backing down. It reportedly wants to use the land parcel to build an IT park.
However, what has caused many to umbrage is the fact that this 400 acres land comprises a lake, historical rock formations like the Mushroom Rock (believed to be about 2 billion years old). The biodiversity in the region is well-documented. There are, according to activists, 233 birds. Other animals like the Bengal Monitor Lizard, Star Tortoise, and spotted deer also live in the area.
Students see this beautiful lung space as central to the UoH campus, whether or not it legally belongs to the university. And with images of JCBs in the area and photos of distraught animals like peacocks flooding social media, they have risen in protest.
While the Telangana High Court has issued an interim order halting the demolition until the hearing resumes today, there are a few pertinent points here to take into consideration about this issue. Especially given that Revanth Reddy has been going on and on about saving lakes and green spaces from encroachments in Hyderabad via the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Monitoring and Protection Agency (HYDRA) he set up in 2024.
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The background
University of Hyderabad was set up in 1974, as a result of a settlement post the 1969 protests for a separate Telangana. Back then, the central government managed to avoid the bifurcation of the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh state. One of the things offered to placate the pro-Telangana agitators was a university in their region.
The land on which it stands, called Kancha Gachibowli, was handed over to the university in 1975. However, it was never formally transferred to the university. This is the crux of the current issue.
The Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC), which has been defending the government’s takeover of the 400 acres, has also said that the campus land “was never alienated and ownership was not transferred in favour of UoH”.
Meaning, the land on which UoH functions is technically under the state’s ownership. Moreover, according to the TGIIC, the 400 acre-area in question was formally taken from the UoH authorities in 2003 and was handed to a company called IMG Bharata Private Limited for development. It states that another parcel of 397 acres was then handed over to UoH in lieu of the 400 acres.
But the 400 acres were always freely accessible to the students, with no boundary wall or line separating it from the campus.
The present state government wrested the parcel from IMG Bharata through a legal battle in 2024. The TGIIC also said that when the state government issued orders to lay a new road that goes through this piece of land in 2017, the UoH authorities had gone to court against it and lost.
“The Hon’ble High Court was pleased to dismiss the matter while holding that the UoH does not have any title over the subject land of Acs 400 and hence cannot challenge Government action,” said the TGIIC in its statement.
UoH authorities I spoke to have corroborated this and said that legally the varsity cannot do or say much. It can only ask the state government to let the parcel be with them due to the environmental concerns.
Students are, understandably, very unhappy and are facing the brunt of the state that wants to turn the green space into another concrete jungle.
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Complete u-turn
What bothers me most is the fact that CM Reddy has been vocal about lake protection via HYDRA since last year and has extended the agency’s power.
HYDRA has gone after builders and anyone else who has encroached on lakes in Hyderabad. So will the agency take action against the state itself?
Let’s also not forget that Hyderabad has been losing other natural spaces to encroachments as well.
Under the previous BRS government, the ancient Khajaguda rock site was eaten away bit by bit by real estate sharks. Houses have been built all around the site. The 400 acres of land will, in all likelihood, meet the same fate unless the state reconsiders its decision.
I am sure that there is empty land that is bereft of biodiversity and animals that can be used for redevelopment instead. Beating up students and detaining them is definitely not the way to go, but Indian states are designed to crush protests.
So much for the Congress government calling itself a ‘People’s Government’ after coming to power. It is acting like anything but that.
One can only hope that the CM and others from the government meet UoH authorities and figure out a solution. Sure, the state owns the land, but it should also be sensitive to its people.
Yunus Lasania is a Hyderabad-based journalist whose work primarily focuses on politics, history and culture. Views are personal.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)