Hyderabadis turn up to lend support for saving green cover

Hyderabad: In a show of solidarity to preserve Hyderabad's depleting green spaces, hundreds of citizens from various walks of life gathered at the KBR Park on Sunday evening to participate in the silent candlelight march organized by Times of India as part of its efforts to protect the city's green cover from being bulldozed.
Holding placards and posters displaying appeals to save `Hyderabad's lung spaces', those gathered at the main entrance of the park marched till Jubilee Hills Checkpost and back.The unique people's movement only gathered momentum on the way with many passersby also joining the march to register their support for the cause and root for sustainable development of Hyderabad, complete with its parks, water bodies and rocks. For two hours the charged crowd raised slogans, sang jingles and promised to fight for as long as it takes, to ensure that the city's identity ­ as green treasure ­ is protected and preserved for posterity .
"The people's movement is about an issue larger than KBR Park. It is an effort to save the city and preserve its character and identity ," said an aggrieved Kapil Dev, presi dent of Rotary Club of Hyderabad Central, while adding, "In the past two decades, the ruling parties have adopted an almost monstrous approach towards development by hacking everything that came in the way." "The water bodies have depleted, there are no more open spaces or playgrounds for children and we are all living in a concrete jungle," lamented Shilpa Sivakumaran of Hyderabad Rising. "Destroying KBR is not decimating merely a park. You are destroying the fragile ecosystem of the city and razing the Hyderabad Ridge," she added.
Echoing Dev's thoughts, several present also lashed out at the state government for proposing the Strategic Road Development Plan (SRDP), which they termed as an `ill-designed decongestion strategy'. Many pointed out that the threat to the expansive urban biodiversity hotspot located in the heart of the city was part of a larger issue that of a skewed approach to development.
`The state government needs to realize that a sustainable approach to development is the only way to preserve the fast-vanishing ecology in the city and ensure a good quality of life for the future generations. It is now time for citizens to take matters into their own hands and ensure that their views and opinions are heard," said Balarama K Varanasi, a project management trainer and consultant at a private firm.
The calls for civic activism only grew louder with many protesters demanding that more denizens join the `much-needed people's movement' that has gathered momentum over time.
"We need to do much more. We have to continue to organize such events, dharnas etc to ensure that this movement picks up more pace and the authorities hear our voice. It is important that we continue with this work and not give up," said Dr P Vinay Kumar, surgical gastroenterologist.
Neelima Raavi, who has been running along KBR Park's shaded walkways for more than seven years was quick to agree.
"It is time to make ourselves heard loud and clear. This show of civic activism that has taken shape has the potential to change the state government's unilateral style of decision-making," declared a hopeful Neelima Raavi, a CSR coordinator at an IT firm while questioning the state government's reasons for announcing plantation drives on the one hand and `destroying the meagre existing green cover' on the other.
Kinjal Desai, who has been a resident of Hyderabad for more than 10 years meanwhile pointed out that the state government was capable of chalking out ecofriendly alternatives.
"The state government, with just a little time and effort, can come up with more than 10 better alternatives to the proposed SRDP project, none of which will require hacking so many trees. Hyderabad's iconic landmarks need to be preserved at any cost," said Desai.