Telangana Congress rejects PM Modi’s comment on Kancha Gachibowli Lands, Problem BJP’s “poverty” environment record

Excavators were used to remove deforestation after the Supreme Court stopped cutting trees on 400 acres of forest land in the Kancha Gachibowli area of ​​Hyderabad on April 4, 2025. Image source: PTI

Telangana Congress condemned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks on Kancha Gachibowli’s land issue, accusing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of spreading misinformation and showing double standards in environmental and development affairs.

Congress said the prime minister had been misled by BJP’s national department president and trade union minister G. Kishan Reddy.

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Prime Minister Modi criticized the Telangana government for allegedly forgot its promise and with bulldozers that harmed forests and wildlife. Speaking at Yamunanagar in Haryana, the Prime Minister urged the people to know the difference between the two governance models, citing the Kancha Gachibowli land dispute.

In a detailed statement issued in Hyderabad on Monday, Congress said the BJP’s allegations against the state government were groundless and ignored the BJP’s own poor environmental record. It cites the construction of five academic buildings on the University of Hyderabad (UOH) campus in 2023, unveiled by Prime Minister Modi, which reportedly resulted in thousands of mature trees without evidence of compensatory afforestation steps.

The party said that through the Ministry of Human Resource Development, the center led by the BJP has promoted the removal of green coverage in UOH campuses, prioritizing political optics over ecological issues.

Congress criticized the BJP’s environmental records noted that data showed that more than 10 million trees were cut between 2014 and 2.3 million trees were cut between 2020 and 2022 for infrastructure projects such as highways, ports and airports. It further accused the BJP of granting the then-K. Chandrasekhar Rao a special license, leading Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) to occupy 33,251.18 acres of forest land for various development projects.

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The party also highlighted policy changes, including the 2023 Forest Protection Act amendment and the streamlining of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process.

“Despite environmentalists expressing concerns about deforestation across the country, Prime Minister Modi-led Central government has always been prioritizing development over environmental sustainability. Although the whole nation knows that the loss of mature trees is irrevocable, it is PM Modi government’s adamant attitude and zero respect for environment and lung space for people that led to massive democracy by Centre as well as BJP-ruled states over and over again since 2014,” says the statement. Congress claims that these changes have also led to conflicts in human wildlife.

The Congress claimed that the BJP government promoted forests in the name of development. More than 300,000 hectares of forest clearance have been made since 2014, while 99% of forest clearance applications have been approved without rejection.

Calling for accountability, Congress called on the public and the media to question the BJP’s position on environmental and development issues and accuse it of prioritizing political mileage over sustainable development.