Do you know how many trees the 'Andhra Cricket Association' (ACA) cut down to build a new stadium at Tirupati? 400000 fully-grown trees! And they didn’t even have permission to do it.
The stadium on a 985 acre land at the foothills of Tirumala was objected to by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on the grounds that it would disturb the ecology and environment and also spoil the greenery of the place.
The land owned by the TTD has been leased to SV University. Now the ACA has been fined Rs 1 crore for destroying the trees and asked to plant 4000 samplings within six months.
Further work on the stadium has also been stayed subject to approval from the AP Pollution Control Board and other environmental bodies. But the point is: Can Rs 1 crore bring back 400000 trees? Is this punishment sufficient enough to deter any such willful violations in future? In the name of development and entertainment, where are we headed?
