As per report citizens in Hyderabad may soon not be able to take a stroll along the walkway of the Kasu Brahmananda Reddy (KBR) National Park as the state government is seeking to go ahead with its Strategic Road Development Plan (SRDP) to construct multi-layer flyovers around the city's largest lung space. Meanwhile the bone of contention between activists and the government is over the proposed 'shrinking' of the walkway, which is part of the Eco Sensitive Zone (ESZ) of the national park in the heart of the city.
Earlier the state government had taken up the issue with the Centre and sought permission to cut trees and reduce the width of the walkway, in order to facilitate the construction of the flyovers. Furthermore following this, activists in Hyderabad have started an online petition to 'Save KBR Park' as the 60 day period to raise objections with the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) is set to end soon.
Kaajal Maheshwari from citizen initiative 'Citizens for Hyderabad' said “The Centre could have rejected the proposal but they have also accepted the state government's plan and published the draft notification and such notifications are not issued during elections, but the draft was published on October 30, when all of us least expected it. Activists have also started a website for the same purpose and also plan to hold a rally on the morning of December 23 at the main gate of KBR Park”.
