GHMC vows to relocate trees

Hyderabad: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has decided to relocate about 500 trees, which are likely to be uprooted during the construction of multi-grade flyovers, grade separators and underpasses under the Strategic Road Development Project (SRDP).

Plant species including ficus, palm trees and temple trees would be uprooted in various stretches during the project and relocated in the nearest possible place.

Speaking to The Hans India, GHMC Urban Biodiversity Director V Damodar said the civic body would uproot 1,562 trees in five stretches near KBR Park, Maharaja Agrasen Junction, Film Nagar Junction, Jubilee Hills Check-post, Ayyappa Society, Mind Space Junction, Malaysian Township Junction and LB Nagar Junction in Phase I.

Of them, the GHMC is planning to relocate about 500 trees. The Urban Biodiversity Director further said they would be manually uprooted from the respective areas prior to the relocation. He said, besides relocation, the GHMC was planning to plant at least one lakh saplings in the SRDP stretches in order to increase the green cover.

This would be taken up during the Haritha Haram programme in July, he said. Damodar further said due to poor rains in the last two years, tree plantation and activities of developing parks in the GHMC limits were going on slow pace. Even the Telangana Haritha Haram, an ambitious programme of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, failed to achieve the targets as the monsoon failed.