Supreme Court Committee Inspects KBR National Park, H-CITI Project

The Supreme Court has appointed members of the Central Empowered Committee, who are said to be in the city, to verify the facts with regard to allegations of encroachment of the Kasu Brahmananda Reddy National Park’s Ecological Zone (ESZ) by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation for the H-CITI project.

The committee reportedly inspected the national park and its surroundings and the ongoing work on the construction of flyovers and underpasses on the outskirts of the park before meeting GHMC officials, including Commissioner RV Karnan and Chief Engineer Sahadev Ratnakar, on Friday. They also reportedly met officials of the forest department to understand the issues surrounding the ESZ.

Objections by city environmentalists over the manner in which the ESZ was repaired reached the Supreme Court after the GHMC started work on the project and felled a large number of trees on the median. The Supreme Court decided to suspend the felling of trees within the ESZ, while not delaying work on the project.

The current inspections were reportedly carried out by the CEC after receiving a tip-off about the felling of trees near the park during the stay. Committee member Anjan Kumar Mohanty is learned to have invited the complainants to a meeting on Monday to hear their version.

Three persons Kaajal Maheshwari, Jasveen Jairath and Sagar Dhara challenged the ESZ approved by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change for the KBR National Park in October 2020. They claim that despite the recommendation of an expert committee under the MEF, no public hearing was held by the department before issuing the final notification.

They initially approached the High Court against the ESZ notification, but when the government pushed through the H-CITI project before the issues were resolved, they approached the Supreme Court for help.

Published – 25 Jul 2026 20:39 IST