In September this year, the University of Hyderabad, one of India’s eight ‘Institutions of Eminence’, allowed the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority to plant saplings on its 1,800-acre campus. The university aims to expand green cover, without considering the difference between ‘open space’ or ‘wasteland’ and a functioning grassland ecosystem. It was a few voices versus the adamant administration — the latter prevailed, leading to the loss of a rich biosphere, writes B. Pradeep
