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Hyderabad: Following clashes between students of the Hyderabad Central University (HCU) and the police over the entry of bulldozers to clean up a 400 acre stretch of forested land, large number of police personnel were deployed on Monday (March 31) both inside and outside the campus.

The clashes took place ahead of the Congress government’s reported move to auction it to private players from the Information Technology sector for setting up an IT park. The move has resulted in criticism from both the students and the opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in the state.

The land is part of the uptick urban growth area of Kancha Gachibowli in Hyderabad and is claimed by both the state government and the university.

Earlier, the police arrested 52 students on Sunday (March 30) for obstructing the operators of bulldozers from carrying on their work. They were later released on furnishing personal bonds.

Dozens of bulldozers were deployed in the night to flatten the ground. On March 29, the students burnt the effigy of Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy.

A two-decade-old controversy

At the centre of the dispute is a two-decade-old controversy over ownership of the disputed 400 acres of land. The issue had seemingly reached its conclusion when the Telangana high court said in a judgment in 2022 that there was no deed of conveyance that confirmed transfer of land by the government to the university.

It was the university which had filed the case claiming legal ownership of the original land measuring 2,324 acres allotted to it in 1975, including the disputed 400 acres. The university argued that the maps of the government were incorrect.

The court held that in the absence of such a deed, the government retained ownership of the land. Moreover, some other portions of the land were also surrendered by the university to the government, bolstering the argument of the government. The 2022 judgement was also subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court last year.

However, the legal obstacles to the land did not end there, as Vata Foundation, an NGO working for environmental conservation filed a public interest litigation in the high court seeking “deemed forest” status to the land and demanding that it is declared as a “national park” under Section 35 of Wildlife (Protection) Act.

Bulldozers stand parked for action in the disputed land adjacent to the University of Hyderabad. Photo by arrangement.

It based its argument on the judgement of the Supreme Court in the Godavarman Thirumulpad versus Union of India case. Godavarman was known as Green Man for his commitment to environmental conservation. The high court has listed the case for........

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