Save Chevella Banyans--An Update
Meeting
1.0 hrs
September 15, 2024 4:00 pm Sunday

The Save Chevella Banyans group has been working for the past five years to protect a stretch of heritage banyan trees on the Manneguda-Chevella-Vikarabad road from being felled to make way for a four-lane highway. The group received a favourable judgment from the National Green Tribunal that in its opinion required that the National Highways Authorities of India conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment before proceeding with the highway construction, noting that the trees were part of a valuable ecosystem that should be preserved. The group has now learned that the highway project is slated to be cleared, and the EIA has been obtained. We wish to challenge this and seek to examine whether the EIA has indeed been done as per norms.

Organizer
Usha Raman
I'm part of the Save the Chevella Banyans group, an informal collective that has been working to protect the stretch of 900-odd banyan trees along the Manneguda-Vikarabad road. We successfully petitioned the National Green Tribunal to get the National Highways Authority of India to conduct a full Environmental Impact Assessment and have now learned that the EIA has been conducted and the project may be cleared. The gathering is to brainstorm on how the campaign can move forward.