On March 30 2025, the Telangana government sent dozens of bulldozers to the Hyderabad Central University (HCU) to acquire 400 acres (more than 160 hectares) of land for corporate use.  Although the 400 acres in question were a part of the 2,300-acre parcel allotted to the University when it was established in 1974, legally, the state government is the sole owner of the entire land. Over the years, it has allocated pockets of land from these 2,300 acres for various purposes: constructing a bus depot, a telephone exchange, a IIIT campus, the Gachibowli sports stadium, a shooting range, etc.

The disputed 400 acres were handed over by the then united Andhra Pradesh government to a private sports management firm in 2003, only to be reclaimed in 2006 due to non-use. This triggered a lengthy legal battle, which eventually saw the SC reiterate that the Telangana government was the sole owner of the land. But the 400 acres have never been demarcated. Nor has it been notified as a forest, even though it is a part of the University’s larger forest ecosystem. This was at the heart of the current issue.

Students and activists protesting against the Telangana government cite the SC’s landmark verdict in T N Godavarman Thirumulpad v Union of India (1996). The apex court had held that any land with forest cover qualifies as “forest land”, even if the land is not notified as a forest.

A powerful students’ agitation played a crystallizing role in compelling the media and broader public to take notice. Between April 2 and 3, three court hearings were held. On April 3, the Supreme Court of India took suo motu cognizance of the incident, expressing shock at the number of trees felled in just a few days in the Kancha Gachibowli Forest (KGF), asked if the required environmental clearances had been obtained, and subsequently directed the Telangana government to stop the “alarming deforestation activities”. Status quo has been maintained ever since, as the apex court awaits the Chief Secretary’s report.

The protests at HCU spread beyond students. It drew climate activists of various hues, and different sections of the civil society as well. These protests against the government’s decision to auction the land off stemmed from the need to preserve existing carbon sinks in the city. Urban forests such as Kancha Gachibowli help regulate local climates by providing shade, reducing temperatures, and increasing humidity.

Many studies already show that the KGF is an ecologically sensitive area. A recent ecological heritage report by Arun Vasireddy compiled the rich biodiversity of KGF with more than 230 species of birds and numerous species of reptiles and mammals. Besides, KGF holds a special hydrological significance. “Out of nearly 200 lakes in Greater Hyderabad, we only have 10 clean lakes left, of which four are in this forest and in HCU,” Vasireddy explained.

Across Indian cities, water crises are increasingly becoming disruptive. Bangalore is just around 600 kilometres away from Hyderabad, which has been undergoing a massive water crisis. What turned India’s green city into a dry one is primarily the over-extraction of groundwater and the disruption of the water network, including the encroachment, filling, and conversion of lakes into real estate.

Hyderabad is a dry city. It could invite the worst water crisis if some of the last remaining sources are not protected. While the lakes in KGF provide the drinking and irrigation water source, the natural rock formations in the landscape serve as the sewage outlets of the city.

The forest lies bang in the middle of Hyderabad’s financial district. Auctioning the land would not only fill government coffers, but also attract potential investments of Rs 50,000 crore, and generate as many as 5 lakh jobs, the government says. Notably, the Gachibowli IT corridor is one of the most expensive localities in Hyderabad, boasting extremely high property rates.

Over the last few years, the country has witnessed a pushback against the achievements in environmental conservation and fair use of land. EIA rules have been diluted, while the Forest Conservation Amendment Act, 2023 dilutes the protection accorded to forests and forest-dwellers. In addition, urban development has become synonymous with corporate led large scale infrastructure project which tend to benefit the rich and dispossess and marginalize the poor.

This policy climate has been put in place by the Narendra Modi-led union government. The HCU incident reveals the extent to which these sensibilities have come to define the neoliberal and authoritarian policy architecture almost irrespective of which government is in power. That is a worrying sign. Pro-people, democratic parties must be able to think and act differently.

At the same time, resistance to anti-environmental and pro-corporate development have increasingly brought together various hues of civil society, climate activists, student organizations and labour movements. Such solidarities, often stretching across party affiliations, make us hopeful about these resistances defining a democratic political coalition that can provide a genuine alternative to the people in the times to come.