Chevella Banyans Find Resolution

November 4, 2025

After nearly 6 years of on-the-ground activism, online advocacy, public policy interventions, and legal battles, NHAI commits to save an overwhelming majority of the Banyans (765) in situ, and to shifting about 130 trees to only a few meters away at the National Green Tribunal. 

The Southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal in Chennai passed a historic order this morning, accepting the National Highway Authority of India’s revised road plan while also saving the Chevella Banyans. The new plan will save over 85% of the Banyans (about 765) in their original location, and the remaining 130-odd trees will be moved a few meters away on the Right Of Way (ROW). This was achieved by NHAI officials who modified the project alignment in a manner that retains the Banyans (and other large trees).

The INR 1000 crore NH-163 expansion project will now include the Chevella Banyans as part of their project plan. When the project had begun over 6 years ago, the plan was to translocate/cull 700-odd Banyans, and 200 Banyans were to be left out of the project. Now all the nearly 900 Banyans will be a part of the project plan. About 765 Banyans will be left at their original location. The remaining 130-odd trees will be translocated only a few meters away from their original location, within the ROW, ensuring their preservation and integration with the revised alignment. A good example of the impact of this revised alignment are the nearly 50 additional Banyan trees lining the highway outside the Mudimiyal reserve forest that will be left untouched.

In addition to the Banyans, the Tree Protection Committee and the Forest Department of the Government of Telangana have identified 415 additional large trees that could benefit from the same approach. The NHAI has also agreed to retain untouched other large trees (rain trees, tamarind, etc) that are part of the Banyan stretches, especially where the change in alignment will save such trees. 

A key decision by NHAI, as submitted to the NGT in this new order, has been to change their translocation model. Instead of shifting the trees to Mudimiyal, as planned earlier, they will now be moved only a few meters away on to ROW. This will ensure their monitoring/upkeep for upto 7 years as translocated trees, but also as part of the overall tree management project. 

The Nature Lovers of Hyderabad, petitioners in this campaign, have also compiled a list of locally sourced native trees that the NHAI have agreed to include in their plantation and compensatory afforestation model for this project. 

We thank the Chief Minister Sri Anumula Revanth Reddy and the Parigi MLA T. Ram Mohan Reddy for their efforts to bring this project to a satisfactory conclusion. 

The final judgement can be accessed here.

 

*March 2025: NGT's Second Judgement in Favour of the Banyans

In a judgement handed on 26 March 2025, the NGT clearly stated that the EIA Report submitted by NHAI is not comprehensive and directed the project be kept in abeyance till a proper Assessment, including evaluating alternate alignments is conducted and submitted.

The banyans are safe for now.

NGT drew attention to the fact that only 6 of the 522 banyan trees proposed to be translocated have a girth size which fall within the range prescribed for translocation. Also, that "previous instances of translocation of large Banyan trees in India have had poor survival rates".

NGT also stated that the EIA does not address the ecological significance of the Banyan trees in supporting biodiversity, and does not specify targeted mitigation measures to address the impact on the fauna due to translocation/felling.

*November 2023 Important Update*

Victory for the Banyans! NGT orders EIA to assess risk of cutting Chevella Banyans

The Tribunal chastises NHAI for not innovating and reminds them of ‘the growing awareness to balance road expansion and environment conservation.’

Hyderabad, November 7, 2023: The southern bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in its judgment yesterday has directed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) with the express purpose of minimizing cutting of trees before proceeding further with the road expansion. The Tribunal drew special attention to the nearly 1000 rare, century-old Banyans and thousands of other trees in the Chevella region.

The tribunal noted that NHAI had repeatedly failed—right from the initial assessment to the recent expert committee—to look for alternatives or come up with innovative solutions to protect the Chevella Banyans. In fact, they had refused to even consider clusters of Banyans and re-align the road or by-pass the trees to protect more of them. Ultimately, NHAI ‘ought to have analyzed rigourously all reasonable alternatives’.

Quoting from a range of case law, both Indian and international, the Tribunal has emphasized the ‘sense of urgency’ around protecting the environment. It has urged NHAI to consider the social, economic and environmental impact of cutting trees. In the judgment, the tribunal goes on to list the various benefits of roadside trees in general, and the Banyan in particular. In fact, the judgment opens with a beautiful Tamil verse by the 16th century Pandian ruler from Tenkasi, Ativirarama Pandian:

"The tiny seed of a mighty Banyan Tree is smaller than the egg of the smallest fish, when grown, it is large enough to offer shade to the entire battalion of the King viz., Elephants, Chariots, Cavalry and Infantry."

The NGT has also directed the Ministry of Environment and Forests to issue terms of reference to complete an EIA within four months.

The Save Chevella Banyans campaign, and the Nature Lovers of Hyderabad are delighted with the tribunal’s path-breaking judgment. It injects hope into the various citizen groups and concerned individuals like us who are struggling to save trees from wanton destruction.

Take a bow every single person who prayed for the banyans, who walked, cycled, photographed and painted, those who wrote poems, sang songs, held hands, spoke for them, hugged them and climbed them, those who lit lamps, tied ribbons and threads, swung from their roots, counted the birds on them, admired their beauty, counted them and their compatriots, geotagged them, kept watch on them, reported about them, signed the petition to save them and celebrated them! We are overwhelmed by the love and appreciation the banyans received!

*May 2023 Update - NGT Mandates Committee to Explore Saving of Chevella Banyans

In their order dated 24 May 2023, the National Green Tribunal (NGT), Chennai, has mandated that a Committee be formed to explore alternative alignments on NH-163, especially where large Banyan clusters are at risk of uprooting because of the proposed expansion of this national highway.

The NGT-recommended committee will consist of a senior officers from Indian Road Congress and PCCF nominees (not below the rank of Chief Conservator of Forest). While the NHAI too has been included, the petitioners are hoping to underscore the risk of conflict with their inclusion. The committee is empowered to invite any other expert they deem necessary to make these alignment changes to protect the Banyans.

The order also notes the many instances NHAI has been unable to re-look the alignment despite the tribunal reminding them of the ecological and heritage value of these Banyan clusters.

In their latest report, NHAI submitted a report from a technical agency that only looks at the feasibility of 5 underpasses (amounting to a few hundred meters in this 45-km project) instead of looking at re-alignment as was directed by the Tribunal.

The petitioners representing the Save Chevella Banyans campaign objected to this narrow approach and NHAI’s unwillingness to include the environment in their decision-making process while building roads. Small realignments would save the old Banyans and will be to the credit of the authority.

The Committee mandated by the NGT is in response to this resistance, and we hope that they will help NHAI find a solution that is inclusive and protective of trees in their mission.

*April 2023 Update - "Find alternatives to save banyans" - NGT to NHAI*

In their latest order, the southern bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to complete a detailed and ‘special’ study to find alternative means to ensure that the 750 Banyans are safe and sound. The order does not support any uprooting or cutting of these trees until such a report is submitted to the tribunal at the earliest. The 700-odd Banyans mentioned in the order are the trees that will be impacted by the road-widening; there are another 200 trees that are unaffected as the present alignment does not reach them.

The NGT notes that the Banyan clusters on NH-163 present a unique situation owing to the wide variety of avian and other species they sustain. The tribunal also notes the wide trunks and large canopies of these Banyans relative to the other trees in their vicinity.

The Nature Lovers of Hyderabad agree and join the tribunal in urging NHAI to consider serious alternatives that will safeguard all the Banyans on NH-163. We also bring to their attention that bypassing a small and sensitive scrub-forest like Mudimyal will save one of the last scrublands on the borders of Hyderabad.

*January 2023 Update*

Road widening has begun: The Chevella banyans still need your support

In 2021-22, 63,000+ citizens -- all of us! -- supported this petition to save nearly a 1000 old and iconic banyan trees on National Highway (NH)-163 from the cutter’s axe. Since then, we have filed a case in the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and are fighting the good fight at every opportunity.

The campaign is facing continued challenges. Road widening has begun for NH-163 near Himayatnagar village with a few buildings already demolished. Even as the authorities had offered assurances that they would do their best to save the trees, it appears that more than 700 of the 914 banyans will be removed from the Chevella-Vikarabad stretch.

It is alarming that a large number of trees – small, big, huge and iconic – have been marked for translocation. We have been reiterating that translocating equals death for most of these trees.

In the meantime, ‘Desham kosam’ Prakash, a member of Nature Lovers of Hyderabad, from Mendhini Social Service Society, Warangal, completed a 200-km padayatra, in support of the campaign to save the banyans of Chevella. He started from Hanamkonda on 2 January 2023, and completed the padayatra on 8 January at Manneguda. He was joined by several enthusiastic nature lovers all along the way. We are very thankful to Prakash for his support. He earlier undertook padayatras for other environmental causes in Telangana, including promoting the use of clay Ganeshas, calling for the ban of plastic during the Medaram jatra and in support of a green tax at the Eturu Nagaram forest corridor. He brought these issues to the notice of the officials through his padayatras and hopes that he will succeed this time too.

Let’s act now!

Join us again to reiterate our demand that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, and NHAI:

1.  Replan the project to save, in toto, the best stretches with large, mature banyans. The trees can be retained as medians or on the verges with road expansions including them in their design. 

2.  Declare the stretch of the highway till Vikarabad, which includes the reserve forests/scrub habitats at Mudimyal and Kandlapally abutting NH-163, as the Telangana Biodiversity Heritage Road.

3. Establish this pioneering eco-tourism project to enshrine Telangana’s green heritage and encourage visits by citizens.

The Banyans of Chevella may be one of the last stretches of road-lining banyans to survive intact in Telangana. Since this is an old highway, the Banyans can be dated to the last Nizam’s policy of planting shade-giving trees along major roads. Keeping the Banyans intact would honour this past – Hyderabad’s heritage - even as we look forward to sustainable futures.

Mudimyal and Kandlapally are two of the few remaining grassland/scrub habitats on NH-163. They play host to many grassland specialist animals, notably the migrating Harriers that winter here and the now rare Tawny Eagles that nest here (listed as ‘Vulnerable’ in the IUCN Red List). Together with the Banyans, they can make a ‘heritage road’ that represents an alternative, more sustainable future that we can bequeath our children. Heritage Roads are ideally preserved intact on cultural, aesthetic, historical, and ecological grounds, and will acquire their own unique touristic and heritage value if properly protected and developed.

The banyans, even today, are bursting with birdsong, attracting hundreds of bees, butterflies and wasps; squirrels springing up their aerial roots; hornbills, koels, crows, barbets and mynahs trilling in their canopies. These tree-tops are home to raptors like buzzards and spotted eagles. They are keystone species, entire ecosystems in themselves. Save them and you save multitudes.

If the banyans go, entire ecosystems die, heritage disappears, and local economies collapse.

Let us continue to work together to save the Chevella Banyans.

Indian Express: https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/telangana/2021/sep/25/huge-fillip-centre-sanctions-rs-900-cr-for-nh-163-expansion-2363505.html

Times of India:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/trees-on-hyd-to-manneguda-nh-stretch-to-be-relocated/articleshow/90579205.cms

___

*2022 update*

30 August 2022

In 2021-22, 63,000+ citizens -- all of us! -- supported this petition to save over a 1000 old and iconic banyan trees on National Highway (NH)-163 from the cutter’s axe. Since then, we have filed a case in the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and are fighting the good fight at every opportunity. 

We now know that the NHAI has awarded the contract to expand the highway. They have filed an affidavit with the NGT that “they will minimise damage to trees for four-laning the road”, and that translocation would be done wherever possible on the 46-km stretch.

We have already stated that translocation of these iconic banyans IS NOT AN OPTION and earlier attempts on this very road have been dismal. Translocation would also destroy all the biodiversity these keystone trees sustain.

Geo-tagging the Banyans

In June-July 2022, groups of volunteers worked over several days to geotag and document the 914 banyans on this stretch. We now have precise data for every banyan, including location (latitude/longitude), health of the tree (including human damage) and a minimum of two photographs each. All this data is on public domain.

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/263e1beb735c4402a92b00f1f1c256c0 

Let’s act!

Join us again to reiterate our demand that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, and NHAI:

1.  Replan the project to save, in toto, the best stretches with large, mature banyans. The trees can be retained as medians or on the verges with road expansions including them in their design. 

2.  Declare the stretch of the highway till Vikarabad, which includes the reserve forests/scrub habitats at Mudimyal and Kandlapally abutting NH-163, as the Telangana Biodiversity Heritage Road.

3. Establish this pioneering eco-tourism project to enshrine Telangana’s green heritage and encourage visits by citizens.

The Banyans of Chevella may be one of the last stretches of road-lining banyans to survive intact in Telangana. Since this is an old highway, the Banyans can be dated to the last Nizam’s policy of planting shade-bearing trees alongside major roads. Keeping the Banyans intact would honour this past – Hyderabad’s heritage - even as we look forward to sustainable futures.

Mudimyal and Kandlapally are two of the few remaining grassland/scrub habitats on NH-163. They play host to many grassland specialist animals, notably the migrating Harriers that winter here and the now rare Tawny Eagles that nest here (listed as ‘Vulnerable’ in the IUCN Red List). Together with the Banyans, they can make a ‘heritage road’ that represents an alternative, more sustainable future that we can bequeath our children. Heritage Roads are ideally preserved intact on cultural, aesthetic, historical, and ecological grounds, and will acquire their own unique touristic and heritage value if properly protected and developed.

The banyans, even today, are bursting with birdsong, attracting hundreds of bees, butterflies and wasps; squirrels springing up their aerial roots; hornbills, koels, crows, barbets and mynahs trilling in their canopies. These tree-tops are home to raptors like buzzards and spotted eagles. They are keystone species, entire ecosystems in themselves. Save them and you save multitudes.

If the banyans go, entire ecosystems die, heritage disappears, and local economies collapse.

Let us work together to save the Chevella Banyans.

***

*2021 Update*

In 2019, 38,000 of you supported this petition to save 1000+ Banyans of Chevella on National highway (NH)-163 from the cutter’s axe. Now those Chevella Banyans, your 1000 banyans on NH-163, are in imminent danger once again. And this time it’s urgent. The intended blow will come soon and we need your help and support again to push back and save them.

Let’s act!

Join us again to demand that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, and NHAI:

1.  Replan the project to save, in toto, the best stretches with large, mature banyans. The trees can be retained as medians with road expansions carried out on either side. 

2.  Totally bypass the areas where the banyans are most well grown and at their most mature. Translocation is not an option for large, mature trees. Earlier attempts have shown that such trees have a poor chance of survival. It would also destroy the biodiversity these trees sustain.

3.  Declare the stretch of the highway till Vikarabad, which includes the reserve forests/scrub habitats at Mudimyal and Kandlapally abutting NH-163, as the Telangana Biodiversity Heritage Road.

The Banyans of Chevella may be one of the last stretches of road-lining banyans to survive intact in Telangana. Since this is an old highway, the Banyans can be dated to the last Nizam’s enlightened green policy of planting shade-bearing trees alongside major roads. Keeping the Banyans intact would honour this past even as we look forward to sustainable futures.

Mudimyal and Kandlapally are two of the few remaining grassland/scrub habitats on NH-163. They play host to many grassland specialist animals, notably the migrating Harriers that winter here and the now rare Tawny Eagles that nest here (listed as ‘Vulnerable’ in the IUCN Red List). Together with the Banyans, they can make a ‘heritage road’ that represents an alternative, more sustainable future that we can bequeath our children. Heritage Roads are ideally preserved intact on cultural, aesthetic, historical, and ecological grounds, and will acquire their own unique touristic and heritage value if properly protected and developed.

The banyans, even today, are bursting with birdsong, attracting hundreds of bees, butterflies and wasps; squirrels springing up their aerial roots; hornbills, koels, crows, barbets and mynahs trilling in their canopies. These tree-tops are home to raptors like buzzards and spotted eagles. They are keystone species, entire ecosystems in themselves. Save them and you save multitudes.

If the banyans go, entire ecosystems die, heritage disappears, and local economies collapse.

Let us work together to save the Chevella Banyans. Again.

Our 2019 petition:

Climate change concerns: According to Global Forest Watch, India has lost more than 1,20,000 hectares of primary forests in the last 5 years alone. In all probability, we have also lost an equal amount of green cover to road-widening projects and related infrastructure development.

What is the green cover Telangana has lost in the last 5 years? How many old trees – mangoes, neem, jamun and banyans – have been axed to widen the roads around Hyderabad? No one seems to know or care! But everyone can see that the rampant tree-felling has drastically changed the climate for the worse, exponentially driven up air pollution levels, and changed temperatures so that day (and even night) summer heat is now close to infernal.

Let’s do something!
DON’T be a mute spectator as these voiceless, magnificent, life-giving giants are murdered. Join us in demanding that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, and the NHAI should:

1. Replan the project to save, in toto, the best stretches with large, mature banyans. The trees can be retained as medians with road expansions carried out on either side. Where not feasible, the trees on one side can be retained and the road widened on the other.
2. Totally bypass the areas where the banyans are most well grown and at their most mature. Translocation is not an option for large, mature trees because of poor chances of survival, as observed during earlier attempts.

We have already lost many such grand old trees that majestically lined our roads. To mention just two recent road-widening efforts, the roads from Chegunta to Medak, and from Aler to Warangal, lost more than 2000 banyans, peepals, rain trees and other grand old tree species that were chopped down without a thought.

Come, sign this petition and join us in the fight to put a stop to this mindless slaughter of stately old trees for road widening. Our beautiful old trees desperately need your help!