Telangana Wildlife Board nods for bus terminal at Vanasthalipuram

Hyderabad: Telangana Wildlife Board has given a green signal to give the proposed 1.3 hectares of Harina Vanasthali Park for the construction of a bus terminal at Vanasthalipuram.

In view of eliminating the hardships faced by passengers and curbing traffic locks, Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) has been appealing to the forest department to allot land for the construction of a bus terminal on the Vijayawada highway.

The proposal for the terminal came in view of the bus stand at Dilsukhnagar that was too small for operating district buses from the location resulting in traffic jams.

Following the appeal, the state’s Wildlife Board on Monday approved the proposal and sent the same to National Wildlife Board for final approval.

The Board declined the State National Highways Authority’s request for forest land to widen the roads leading to Srisailam, during the meeting, which was chaired by forest minister A Indra Karan Reddy and attended by PCCF RM Dobiryal and other senior officials.

The Board opined that widening the existing roads would facilitate speed driving and could pose a threat to the wild animals in the Amrabad reserve forests with cases of wild animals being hit by speeding vehicles increasing each day.

Another major decision taken during the meeting was to increase the compensation to be paid for victims in case of wild animal attacks from the existing Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. The proposal to this effect would be sent to the state government for approval.

The Board has further approved setting up more rescue teams in order to rescue wild animals if they venture into human habitats.

At present, there are only two rescue teams in Hyderabad and Warangal, making it challenging to reach the spot when an incident is reported from different districts.

To eliminate the issue, the department has proposed setting up at least two rescue teams with five members in each team who will be equipped with a vehicle, veterinary doctor, medical kits and tranquillizers.