Hyderabad moves toward officially protecting the 400-acre Kancha Gachibowli green stretch, insights from Chennai’s Guindy National Park offer valuable direction on what to adopt—and what to avoid. While Guindy stands today as a rare pocket of preserved biodiversity in Chennai, its evolution into a fenced-off and inaccessible ecological enclave also provides a cautionary tale. Urban forest design, especially in fast-growing Indian cities, must balance ecological protection with civic inclusion.
In May 2025, a Supreme Court-appointed committee recommended that the Kancha Gachibowli tract be declared forest land following public outrage over tree felling in the area. The report suggested urgent interventions to protect its fragile ecology and halt encroachments. Yet, as Hyderabad prepares to chart its conservation path, Chennai’s experience with Guindy reveals the challenges of turning forest into fortress.
The Guindy forest’s roots trace back to the early 20th century when it formed part of the Madras governor’s country estate. By 1958, a large portion of the land had been handed over to the Tamil Nadu Forest Department. At the time, conservationists pushed back against proposals to carve it into a deer park or sericulture centre. Instead, a portion became a children’s park, and decades later, the area gained National Park status in 1977, spurred partly by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s strong environmental stance.
This designation brought Guindy funding and protection—but also physical isolation. Fenced and strictly monitored, the once freely accessible forest became a restricted space. Local communities, who for generations had relied on the forest for cattle grazing, collection of herbs, or simply leisure, were abruptly cut off. Where city life once flowed around and through the forest, fences and permissions now gatekeep its use. Over time, Guindy became invisible to many in Chennai.In contrast, Hyderabad’s Kancha Gachibowli, still unfenced and relatively open, is home to rich biodiversity, including blackbucks and native flora. It has also emerged as a space of community concern and engagement. The court-appointed committee’s recommendation to treat it as a Conservation Reserve instead of a sealed sanctuary opens a path for a more inclusive model—one where ecological integrity coexists with public interaction.
If Hyderabad is to learn from Guindy, it must avoid designing its urban forest as an enclave for elites or limited to token eco-tourism. Instead, the Kancha forest should serve as a living, breathing commons—integrated into the everyday rhythms of the city. Planners could include community-managed trails, citizen science initiatives, forest school tie-ups, and regulated access zones that respect wildlife corridors while welcoming civic participation.Critically, future governance of the area must not repeat the top-down model that defined Guindy’s transformation. Transparent and participatory forest management, combined with ecological restoration, will be key. Hyderabad’s Forest Department must not only protect trees but also preserve the forest’s role in the city’s social and climatic health.
With increasing heat islands, air quality deterioration, and biodiversity loss across Indian metros, urban forests are no longer a luxury—they are essential infrastructure. The challenge is to protect them without alienating the people they serve. Guindy’s story shows the risk of over-securitisation. Kancha Gachibowli could pioneer a new kind of city forest—resilient, democratic, and regenerative.
As Hyderabad stands at a turning point, embracing a Chennai-informed approach to forest design could mark a milestone in Indian urban environmental planning—one that redefines green spaces not just as protected zones but as shared heritage.
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