Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], March 31 : Union Minister G Kishan Reddy on Monday demanded the immediate stop to the sale of 400 acres of land under Hyderabad University and demanded a stop to the tree felling, as multiple students protest against the government's decision.
The Union Minister said that he wrote to Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to stop the sale of the land, citing the ecological damage and the displacement of birds and animals which will happen due to the plan.
"I have written a letter to the Chief Minister (A Revanth Reddy) in the Congress government to stop this action. I demand from the CM and Rahul Gandhi that 400 acres should be saved. Also the equipment which has been installed for tree cutting should be removed," the Union minister told ANI.
"Forest Department, Central University, everyone has developed this land for a long time. But today the congress-led Telangana government wants to auction it off and give it to a real estate company. Due to this, there will be a lot of concrete jungle. Eco-sensitivity will be damaged and environmental problems will arise, we don't know where birds, animals will go," he added.
Minister Reddy claimed that the government is cutting trees down in the middle of the night, accusing the Congress government of hypocrisy as party leader Rahul Gandhi talks about ecological damage of mining in Kerala.
"They are putting floodlights and cutting trees in the middle of the night. This Congress government gives a big speech in Delhi. Sonia Gandhi gives a big speech. Rahul Gandhi should think about what his government is doing. He says that mining should not be done in Kerala, so Rahul Gandhi gives a letter to the Prime Minister, but where his government is, they want to give away the green land, so students are protesting against it," the minister said.
Calling it a "undemocratic system" after students were lathi charged and detained for protesting, he added, "To crush that movement, the Congress party government is doing this by arresting the police and charging them with sticks, charging them with lathis, this is an undemocratic system."
Earlier, Bharatiya Janata Party MP Etala Rajender condemned the arrest of students protesting the auctioning of 400 acres of land belonging to Hyderabad University (HCU), and demanding the withdrawal of the decision.

"(State government) is trying to sell 400 acres of land of Hyderabad University which is wrong. Today students protesting against this were arrested and put cases on this, I condemn this. This is wrong. I demand the government to withdraw this decision," the BJP MP told ANI.
The students of Hyderabad university have been protesting the sale of 400 acres of land under Hyderabad University. Police had detained multiple students following the protest, including a journalist who was covering the issue.