Hyderabad: Telangana high court on Monday directed the state govt to complete compensatory afforestation work within a stipulated timeframe to make up for the loss of forest cover during the construction of a radar project for the Indian Navy at Damagundam in Vikarabad district.
The bench passed the directions while hearing a PIL challenging the allocation of land for the project, and allegations of large-scale damage to flora and fauna around the project site, and adjourned the matter to Nov 17 for further hearing. The high court had earlier directed the govt to carry out replacement of withered saplings and the afforestation proposed under the target plan between May and Dec 2026. Govt counsel informed the court that, in line with earlier directions, forest department officials had conducted a field inspection to assess the progress of the afforestation work and submitted a report stating that saplings were planted in some areas two years ago and in others a year ago, with about 70% to 80% surviving so far.
The court also asked govt to disclose in its affidavit details of the work pending in the remaining areas and the timeline for completing it.