Tree felling allegations over CM’s Khammam event denied by admin

The meeting, originally scheduled for June 30 at Jagannathapuram village in the Madhira Assembly constituency, was to be attended by around two lakh people.

Hyderabad: The State government has come under fire again over alleged tree felling and damage to farmland for arrangements made for Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s public meeting at Madhira in Khammam district, though the allegations have been denied by the district administration.

The meeting, originally scheduled for June 30 at Jagannathapuram village in the Madhira Assembly constituency, was to be attended by around two lakh people for the release of Rythu Bharosa funds into farmers’ accounts. It was later postponed due to heavy rains and waterlogging at the venue.

According to local reports, a large number of trees, some nearly 30 years old, were cut down using heavy machinery on either side of the Khammam-Vijayawada highway to clear space for the meeting.

Reports also claimed that nearly 180 acres of agricultural land was damaged while preparing the ground, leaving local farmers upset, with many said to have remained silent under pressure from ruling party leaders.

BRS leader Bommera Rammurthy criticised the government for felling decades-old trees despite running annual tree plantation campaigns.

Responding to the allegations, Khammam Collector Divakara T, IAS, issued an official clarification stating that no trees were felled for the public meeting. He said only pruning of branches was carried out at certain locations to clear electrical lines, while a few trees and branches that had fallen due to recent rains and strong winds were removed from the roadside as part of routine clearance work. He maintained that no fresh tree felling was undertaken for the event.

On the land used for the arrangements, the Collector said 30 acres was earmarked for the meeting venue and 130 acres for vehicle parking, all taken up with the consent of the farmers concerned.

Since the kharif sowing season had only just begun, cultivation had not commenced on the identified land, and no standing crops were damaged, he said.

The district administration assured that the land would be restored to its original condition and returned to the farmers after the event, and urged citizens to rely on verified official communications.

Telangana govt’s tree felling

The Khammam episode adds to a string of similar controversies dogging the state government. Close to 2,000 trees in Jubilee Hills Check Post, Mugdha Junction and Indo-American Cancer Hospital areas around KBR Park have already been chopped down for flyovers and underpasses under the H-CITI project, prompting sustained protests under the ‘Save KBR’ banner.

The Supreme Court has since intervened and ordered a halt to tree-felling activities around KBR Park, in a move similar to its earlier action on the Kancha Gachibowli row near the University of Hyderabad, where large-scale biodiversity loss had triggered judicial scrutiny last year.