Flyover to intrude into KBR National Park

Hyderabad: It is not just the walking track. The present buffer zone of the KBR National Park in the city is also set to get nearly obliterated in the near future. Parts of the national park, proper portions that fall inside the grand fence that forms the park's actual boundary, too are required for the government's Strategic Road Development Plan.
This is clear from a close examination of the drawings for the flyovers and road widening components along with plans for developing a jogging and bicycle track around the park.The drawings were included in the tender bid documents for the project by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation.
The state government that appears determined to go ahead with the SRDP may not face much of procedural difficulty in terms of taking over the walking and jogging track that surrounds the park. However, with parts of the park itself also required for the SRDP , the government is expected to face some chal lenges in acquiring it as it involves receiving a final approval from the Supreme Court. While a bulk of the outer track that encircles the park's 4.1 km perimeter, which was developed as a walking and jogging track, is to be affected by the SRDP, portions of the park along the road from the park's main entrance and towards the Jubilee Hills checkpost junction too will be needed for the road project.
Construction of a flyover that is part of the project to take traffic from near the Swiss Castle store on Road No. 2 of Banjara Hills over the KBR main entrance junction towards the Jubilee Hills checkpost will require ­ as per the project plans ­ land that falls within the park boundary. The flyover, that makes a landing opposite the lane that leads to Annapurna Studios, is expected to require a couple of hundred metres of the park land.
Similarly, a portion of the KBR park's boundary will also be required for the flyover that will take off from a little distance after the Jubilee Hills checkpost on the road leading towards Jubilee Hills Rd. No. 45. The location of the flyover's beginning, a little after the proposed checkpost's improved junction, comes soon after the land that currently belongs to Mantri Developers, who reportedly are seeking Rs 1,500 crore from the government for giving up the property for SRDP.
“The actual park boundary will come under intense pressure from all the construction activity. As such, the national park is already under stress from all the development around it. And as per law, if the government wants to use even a foot of land inside the park for the project, then it will have to seek permission from the National Wildlife Board and then get the final seal of approval from the Supreme Court,“ a senior government official said.