by apoorva kumarhyderabad with hyderabad witnessing a 450 rise in urban builtup area and a 160 drop in green cover over the past three decades the trs governments decision to gobble up 55 acres of open space in secunderabad has left environmentalists citizens and sportspersons fumingraising an alarm environmentalists said it is not just human life but the entire ecosystem that will be affected by the concretisation of this green space its a loss of lung space and green cover that the city just cannot afford right now said environmentalist cpt j rama raosports enthusiasts feel the governments intention eat into the gymkhana grounds which houses sporting facilities will cut short the careers of many a budding sportspersonsthough most of the kids training there are oblivious to the fact that the government is eyeing their precious playground the coaches are well informedwhere will the kids go this takeover will kill sports and the potential of the kids training here to become sportspersons of the future lamented football coach rajiv lochanthe proposed acquisition also threatens to completely obliterate the history and heritage attached to the grounds of being one of the oldest cricket grounds in the country and the training grounds for several olympians pointing out that defence land should not be treated as a commodity cpt rama rao said as the gymkhana and bison polo grounds are as significant as the charminar and golconda fort to the twin cities they should be declared as heritage areas to prevent any conversions and change of land use in the futureenvironmentalists suggest that the secretariat be constructed on government land in another part of the city like shammirpet to cause minimal damage to the citys green cover and the heritage that comes with itmiffed at the decision s chandrasekhar president oscar open secunderabad cantonment all roads said this is a loselose situation where we are losing lung capacity and greenery for an infrastructure that already has a functional office