Though Hyderabad is hosting the prestigious International Conference on Biodiversity next month, the GHMC is yet to form a local biodiversity management panel, which is mandatory under the Biodiversity Act. The delay is largely due to representatives of political parties aspiring to become members of the biodiversity committee, which will have huge powers and control over biological resources of Greater Hyderabad. Most of these political aspirants lack even basic knowledge about biodiversity.
The Andhra Pradesh State Biodiversity Board has written to GHMC to form the committee, but to no avail. The GHMC’s biodiversity committee should be headed by the mayor and several powers under the Biodiversity Act vests with it. Under the Act, the committee has powers over all biological resources and will have a say in development projects that impact the city’s ecology.