Can city afford to lose Sanjeevaiah Park?

Any construction inside the park will bring doom to its vast flora and fauna.

Rose Garden at Sanjeevaiah Park in Hyderabad. Photo: Satyanarayana Gola

While welcoming the idea of setting up an iconic tower, which might be the world’s tallest one, in the city, environmentalists expressed concern over the decision to locate it in Sanjeevaiah Park along Hussainsagar.

Spread over 90 acres, the park happens to be one of the greenest strip in the heart of city and acts as the much needed lung space, most pointed out.

Apart from having a rich collection of a variety of plant species, it is also known for its breeding ground for winged creatures and a favoured spot for the migratory birds.

For its vast and varied collection of plants and trees, some rank the park as among the best in the country in terms of diversity. There must be some 25,000 to 30,000 varieties of plants of all sizes representing at least 2,000 species and this makes the park one of the best, says an official on condition of anonymity.

“Any sort of concretisation even in a part of the park will sound the death knell for one of the most pristine environs here,” he points out.

Stretching along the foreshore of Hussainsagar, Sanjeevaiah Park was opened in the early 1970s. It has a cycad garden, fragrance garden, rose garden, aquatic species garden, palm garden and Pavithra Vanam, a compilation of sacred plants.

Cactus and succulent section has an envious collection of species and varieties collected not only from different parts of the country, but also few Mexican and African varieties, an avid gardener says.

“We are not opposing tall towers, but only suitability of location. Sanjeevaiah Park definitely is not the place to be converted into a concrete park,” says M. Veda Kumar, president of Forum for Better Hyderabad.

The city is already starved of lung space and it would get further stressed out if one of the greenest parts here were destroyed, he argues.

The honorary secretary of Bird Watchers Society, Shafaat Ulla, too echoes similar sentiments and questions, “Why spoil such a green and serene space in the city’s heart when there are so many other alternate locations that could be scouted for towers?”

Apart from the plants and trees, a lot of other creatures living here would be affected. Says Mr. Shafaat Ulla, “By converting it into a concrete jungle you will be displacing a lot of life from green hoppers, beetle, fireflies, butterflies to birds. So much of life existing here will disappear”.

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Birds @ Sanjeevaiah Parks

Grey Hornbill

Paradise flycatcher

Golden oriole

Migratory ducks

Nightjar

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Some of the Plants @ Sanjeevaiah Park

Saraca asoca

Mesua ferrea

Diospyros

Red sanders

Sandal wood

Tabebuia

Filicium

Pterospermum

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Cacti and succulents @ Sanjeevaiah Park:

Agave – 25 varieties

Aloe – 10 varieties

Baobob – 8 species

Moringa – 3 species

Euphorbia – 30 varieties

Pedilanthus – 8 varieties

Adenium – 25 varieties

Cycad – 45 species

Plumeria – 70 varieties