Afforestation Without Sense: Telangana’s Green Cover Illusion

The Telangana government never tires of boasting about its “record-breaking” afforestation drives. Crores of saplings planted, glossy photographs released, and self-congratulatory speeches delivered with clockwork precision every Vana Mahotsavam. Yet, step onto the streets of Secunderabad—or drive through its suburbs—and the reality stares back in the form of empty pits, missing saplings, and stunted plants that have not grown even a foot in a decade. This is not afforestation; it is environmental theatre.

Field evidence is damning. Nearly 80 percent of saplings planted along Secunderabad’s roadsides have disappeared. What remains are uncovered pits dug with mechanical precision and abandoned with administrative apathy. These pits neither host trees nor serve the environment. Instead, they endanger pedestrians, clog during rains, damage roads, and inconvenience residents—adding insult to ecological injury.

Worse, the planning itself borders on farce. Saplings are planted barely three feet apart along highways, often under the dense canopy of fully grown vintage trees. Any forester with basic training knows that saplings planted under mature trees are starved of sunlight, water, and nutrients. Predictably, saplings planted as early as 2015 have not grown even one foot taller. This is not bad luck—it is bad forestry.

                                                

The absurdity doesn’t end there. Many of these roadside plantations are located along national highways earmarked for four-lane or six-lane expansion. When road widening begins, these saplings—if they survive at all—will be the first casualties. Elsewhere, saplings are planted adjacent to compound walls or directly beneath high-tension electric lines, ensuring their inevitable removal in the future. One wonders: is this ignorance, incompetence, or indifference masquerading as governance?

All this occurs despite massive funding. Telangana’s flagship Telangana Ku Haritha Haram (TKHH) has consumed over ₹10,635 crore since its inception. Add to this over ₹3,352 crore received under CAMPA funds between 2019 and 2025, plus mandatory allocations forcing local bodies to spend 10 percent of their budgets exclusively on greenery. In 2025–26 alone, the Forest & Environment Department is slated to receive ₹1,023 crore. With such financial muscle, failure cannot be brushed aside as resource scarcity—it is a failure of intent, execution, and accountability.

Afforestation without follow-up is not environmental protection; it is a sheer waste of land and scarce public capital. Forest development must be planned for forests—not for ornamental photo-ops. Sustainable forestry requires commercial logic aligned with ecological sense. High-value plantations such as teak, red sandalwood, bamboo, and medicinal plants offer ecological stability, livelihood security, and long-term economic returns. Instead, the state continues to scatter saplings indiscriminately, without soil analysis, water assessment, or survival audits.

                                

The government’s obsession with eucalyptus plantations further exposes flawed thinking. Eucalyptus is neither villain nor saviour—but it is unsuitable for regions with annual rainfall below 400 mm, a condition that applies to large parts of Telangana. Environmentalists have repeatedly warned that eucalyptus depletes groundwater, exacerbates fires, worsens soil erosion, and suppresses native flora. Yet, plantations continue without ecological impact assessments. If rainfall variability is the norm, the state must seriously consider banning eucalyptus plantations altogether.

Ironically, while eucalyptus receives disproportionate attention, bamboo—arguably one of India’s most valuable green resources—remains neglected. India is the world’s second-largest bamboo cultivator with 136 species across nearly 14 million hectares, yet accounts for only 4 per cent of global bamboo trade. Bamboo can be used in over 1,500 ways, from construction and paper to food and handicrafts. The Union government launched the National Bamboo Mission with ₹1,290 crore and even amended the Forest Act in 2017 to free bamboo outside forests from restrictive regulations. Telangana, however, has failed to leverage this opportunity meaningfully.

True forest management is neither emotional nor episodic. Countries like Finland, Norway, and Canada follow scientific inventory systems tracking hundreds of variables—soil health, vegetation cover, tree vitality, and regeneration cycles. Forests are managed compartment-wise, allowed to grow 60 to 120 years, with regeneration ensured so that stock increment always exceeds harvesting. Telangana’s approach—plant today, forget tomorrow—achieves the exact opposite.

Hyderabad’s lakes and tanks have already vanished under population pressure and poor planning. If afforestation continues as roadside tokenism, forests will follow the same fate. Empty pits will remain as silent monuments to misplaced priorities.

Afforestation cannot be reduced to arithmetic—crores planted, targets achieved, banners unfurled. It must be measured by survival, growth, ecological balance, and long-term value. Until the state government replaces hollow claims with honest audits and scientific forestry, Telangana’s green cover will remain a well-funded illusion—expensive, ineffective, and environmentally dangerous.