Hyderabad’s latest transport expansion plan has ignited a growing environmental alarm as new civic documents reveal that a ring of flyovers and underpasses could fundamentally alter the ecology of the Kasu Brahmananda Reddy (KBR) National Park one of India’s last remaining urban forests. The proposed network, part of a major mobility programme led by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), threatens to compress the park’sHyderabad project raises alarm for KBR park natural buffer zone and expose it to irreversible habitat disruption.
The Hyderabad City Innovative and Transformative Infrastructure (HCITI) project, estimated at nearly ₹1,100 crore, aims to ease traffic pressure across the western corridor of the city. But tender details show that seven elevated corridors and seven underpasses would form a near-continuous concrete perimeter around the 390–400-acre KBR landscape. Environmental researchers warn that the plan effectively replaces the forest’s protective fringe with hardened infrastructure, a shift that could accelerate ecological degradation across a region already experiencing intense heat stress. KBR is widely regarded as an ecological anchor for Hyderabad’s dense western neighbourhoods, hosting dry deciduous vegetation, native rock formations, and numerous bird and small-mammal species. Its canopy helps regulate air temperature, filter pollutants, and support groundwater recharge — all crucial functions as surrounding areas evolve into a high-intensity urban heat island. Scientists emphasise that such forests operate as living systems extending far beyond their fenced boundary, with tree cover, soil permeability, and habitat continuity forming interlinked processes that sustain wildlife and local climate resilience.
Documents connected to the HCITI reveal project components that could severely disrupt these processes. Nearly 80,000 square metres of elevated deck construction, supported by thousands of tonnes of concrete, would be built at heights intersecting the flight paths of native bird species. In addition, more than 1,900 mature trees were initially cleared for felling, and hundreds of properties were acquired through an emergency process that bypassed standard public consultation. The Supreme Court has since intervened to halt tree clearance within the eco-sensitive zone, but the broader design remains unchanged. Urban ecologists caution that the plan introduces several stress layers simultaneously: fragmented canopy corridors, intensified night lighting, amplified traffic noise, and increased surface heat from elevated structures. Hydrologists are equally concerned. Multiple underground sumps and kilometres of reinforced concrete pipelines would redirect monsoon flow away from natural recharge points and toward the city’s stormwater system, jeopardising groundwater levels in Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills neighbourhoods already classified as over-exploited.
The park’s internal hydrology could also be affected, including the subsurface-fed Chiran Lake, which depends on slow recharge through surrounding soil and vegetation. Experts note that once these pathways are severed, water bodies tend to shrink over time, a pattern well documented in cities with shrinking green covers. As climate risks intensify, Hyderabad’s infrastructure choices are under renewed scrutiny. The debate now centres on whether mobility upgrades can be aligned with ecological stewardship and whether the city can protect a forest that shields it from heat, pollution, and water scarcity while planning for its future transport needs.
