It appears that the Telangana government is rattled by the growing protests against its decision to auction 400-acres of land adjacent to the Hyderabad University. The government has reportedly decided to double down and crush the ongoing protests and as part of a major crackdown, it may soon take action against YouTuber Dhruv Rathee and actor-environmentalist Dia Mirza for allegedly sharing AI-generated content related to the controversial deforestation at Kancha Gachibowli. According to sources from the Chief Minister’s Office, the state has approached the High Court seeking legal action against individuals accused of spreading “false narratives” using manipulated visuals.
The dispute revolves around the development of 400 acres of land in Kancha Gachibowli, which the state claims legally belong to it and is earmarked for IT infrastructure expansion. But students of the University of Hyderabad (UoH) insist that the area is within the university boundaries and must be kept intact. There have been intensifying protests over the past few weeks, which are now being heard in both the Telangana High Court and the Supreme Court.
Chief Minister Revanth Reddy took serious note of what he called “AI-generated misinformation” and, on April 5, directed state officials to pursue legal recourse. The government alleges that public figures like Dhruv Rathee — who the opposition hail as a voice of dissent and crusader against the Modi government, as well as a sympathiser for their causes — have used edited content to incite environmental outrage.
Rathee had recently uploaded a video highlighting environmental destruction in the area, which gained massive traction online. Actor Dia Mirza also weighed in, sharing visuals of tree felling and sarcastically questioning the government’s claim by asking, “Are the trees fake too?”
A satellite image comparison has shown significant forest cover loss over the past five years, though the government argues that some visuals are being misrepresented and artificially enhanced.
The Supreme Court, on April 3, took serious note of the deforestation and ordered the Telangana government to immediately halt any further tree cutting in the Kancha Gachibowli forest area of Rangareddy district.
As the legal and public battles unfold, all eyes are now on how the Congress government responds to its critics — and how far it’s willing to go to counter the growing environmental backlash.
