On Monday, the day of Haritotsavam celebrated by the State government, the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority has initiated translocation of a total 126 trees from the road margins in order to facilitate road widening.
The trees, all belonging to ficus species, are being translocated from the Bachupally-Mallampet stretch to the eco park being established by HMDA at Kotwalguda.
On Monday, Special Chief Secretary Arvind Kumar flagged off the scheduled mass plantation programme by re-planting a 10-year-old banyan tree removed from Bachupally stretch and brought to the eco-park.
Of the total trees to be translocated, 75 are banyan and 56 are of peepal variety. According to the sources, the trees were planted during the first phase of Haritha Haram programme initiated by the Telangana government for improvement in greenery quotient.
However, owing to fast-paced real estate development in Bachupally area, traffic has increased phenomenally, necessitating the need for better road infrastructure. A proposal for increasing the road width to 100-feet has been on the cards for a couple of years now.
More than a year ago, Minister K.T. Rama Rao had laid foundation stone for widening of the 6-km stretch between Bachupally crossroads and Bowrampet via Mallampet. The HMDA also has plans to develop an additional interchange to the Outer Ring Road at Mallampet.
A statement said HMDA planted a total 1.9 lakh saplings and translocated 126 trees on Monday, on the occasion of Haritotsavam as part of the 10th anniversary celebrations of the Telangana State formation.
Close to 200 employees from HMDA and Hyderabad Growth Corridor Limited were brought to the eco park in Kotwalguda in two recently procured double decker buses, and participated in the celebrations by planting 15,000 saplings.
A total 1.5 lakh saplings were given away as ‘Vruksha Prasadam’ by Forest Range Officers through mobile distribution, while 25,000 saplings were planted in the urban forest block near Eliminedu of Maheshwaram mandal, the statement said.
