Missing 80 Acres from Mrugavani National Park?

Forest Department, What Do You Have to Say About Allegations of Missing 80 Acres from Mrugavani National Park?

Eighty hectares of land from Mrugavani National Park, one of the three national parks in the city owned by the forest department, are missing.

This shocking fact came to light during a recent hearing at the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in a case related to the illegal erection of power supply line towers through Mrugavani Park, also popularly referred to as Chilkur Deer Park.

During the hearing, the forest department made a surprising admission that the area of Mrugavani Park was not as notified in the official gazette (360 hectares) but was only 287 hectares. The forest officials attributed the net loss of 20% (later increased to 22.5%) of land in the national park to "adoption of different techniques for surveying, mapping, and area estimating."
Green experts said that nearly one-fourth shrinkage in a national park was by no means possible due to a change in technique. "The loss of 20% of land is unheard of. It requires an independent inquiry. The National Board on Wildlife should deliberate and decide on the reasons behind the shrinkage of land, specifically as per section 35(5) of the National Wildlife Act," an expert said.

In the recent significant order, the National Green Tribunal's Chennai bench imposed a penalty of ₹50 lakh on TS Transco for deviating from the gazette-approved plan by installing high-tension quad towers, instead of the approved monopoles, through Mrugavani National Park in Chilkur.
The NGT said the penalty amount would be used for the improvement of Mrugavani Park and also for tree cover in the Chilkur reserved forest area. However, it refused to order the replacement of unapproved quad towers since it would lead to the disruption of power supply. The transmission lines were laid along the Outer Ring Road. Quad poles occupy more space than monopoles.

@HarithaHaram

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