Save the Banyans of Chevella!

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Just what is 'development'?

on May 23, 2019

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We won! We won! We won!

Victory for the Banyans! NGT orders EIA to assess risk of cutting Chevella Banyans The Tribunal chastises NHAI for not innovating and reminds them of ‘the growing awareness to balance road expansion and environment conservation.' Hyderabad, November 7, 2023: The southern bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in its judgment yesterday has directed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) with the express purpose of minimizing cutting of trees before proceeding further with the road expansion. The Tribunal drew special attention to the nearly 1000 rare, century-old Banyans and thousands of other trees in the Chevella region. The tribunal noted that NHAI had repeatedly failed—right from the initial assessment to the recent expert committee—to look for alternatives or come up with innovative solutions to protect the Chevella Banyans. In fact, they had refused to even consider clusters of Banyans and re-align the road or by

Two simple words - We Won!

WE WON!!! Two simple words. But even 24 hours after the NGT ruled in our favour, the enormity of what we accomplished is yet to sink in. We are just a motley group of people. How can we expect to take on the System", I told a friend last year. "Only the Avengers can pull this off; we are not them." When we set out to save the Chevella Banyans, we hoped to win, but I doubt if we expected to win. Everybody knows that banyans are a keystone species. Nobody denies the economic benefit of having a stretch of massive road lining banyans. Everyone claims to love trees. BUT, that dreaded word- DEVELOPMENT! We were accused to coming in the way of development. We have been conditioned into thinking that it is always a battle between the environment and development. People advocating for the environment are branded as being "anti development". But, it need not be a binary. Both can co-exist. Both must co-exist. "Road bhi. Jhaad bhi" was always our slogan

NGT Directs NHAI to Consider Serious Alternatives to Safeguard all the Banyans

In their latest order, the southern bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to complete a detailed and ‘special’ study to find alternative means to ensure that the 750 Banyans are safe and sound. The order does not support any uprooting or cutting of these trees until such a report is submitted to the tribunal at the earliest. The 700-odd Banyans mentioned in the order are the trees that will be impacted by the road-widening; there are another 200 trees that are unaffected as the present alignment does not reach them. The NGT notes that the Banyan clusters on NH-163 present a unique situation owing to the wide variety of avian and other species they sustain. The tribunal also notes the wide trunks and large canopies of these Banyans relative to the other trees in their vicinity. The Nature Lovers of Hyderabad agree and join the tribunal in urging NHAI to consider serious alternatives that will safeguard all the Banyans on NH-1

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Just what is 'development'?

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