Kancha Gachibowli land row: Congress Government blames it on Artificial Intelligence

Even after a report from the Telangana High Court Registrar to the Supreme Court confirmed an alarming picture of deforestation in Kancha Gachibowli, apart from stating that a number of peacock, deer and birds were seen in the area, where ‘there existed a forest inhabited by wild animals’, the Congress government is now spinning a new narrative, dragging in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and blaming AI generated photographs and videos for triggering the entire controversy.

Sample this: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s review meeting on Saturday discussed ‘reasons behind the controversy’, with a statement from the CMO quoting officials that the controversy had led to a national debate as “some people created fake videos and photos using Artificial Intelligence and circulated them widely on social media”.

It did not however discuss how such “fake pictures and videos” could have been avoided to a major extent if the government had not prevented access to the area for the media. If the media was allowed to shoot videos and pictures from the site, and if the government’s version was indeed factual, that itself would have tackled the so-called AI generated content.

On the other hand, netizens point out that the High Court Registrar’s report had confirmed the deforestation angle and the presence of peacock and deer, and therefore, the controversy could not be attributed entirely to AI-generated content. Why the government is trying to unnecessarily spin the narrative that AI-generated content triggered the controversy remains the big question.

The CMO statement also said that top police officials told the Chief Minister that “some vested interests made fake videos and AI photos of crying peacocks and injured deer running away after they were being hit by bulldozers”.

“Even some famous persons in various fields presumed the fake videos and photos circulating on



the social media are true and it added fuel to the lies,” the statement said, also blaming Union Minister G Kishan Reddy, former Minister G Jagadish Reddy, social media influencer Dhruv Rathee, film celebrities John Abraham, Dia Mirza and Raveena Tandon, saying that “they sent a wrong message to the society after they uploaded the fake posts on social media believing them are true”.

From these, John Abraham’s post had no image. Just a statement:

“Hon’ble CM @revanth_anumula Garu, request you to scrap the plan of clearing 400 acres of trees/forest in Kancha Gachibowli which serve as a green lung for the city & also habitat for numerous species of protected wildlife thriving inside it for decades. Clearing the trees will leave wildlife without a home and exacerbate man wildlife conflict. Please stop this..” (sic)

Dia Mirza’s post was also a statement without images.

“Students are raising their voices for a future where nature thrives. Forests, not IT parks, offer young people a chance at a sustainable tomorrow. ‘Development’ at the cost of biodiversity is DESTRUCTION. Save Kancha Forest in Gachibowli, Hyderabad…” (sic)

Yes, there were a few AI-generated images shared by other social media users, that of peacocks and deer fleeing from bulldozers, which at first sight itself could be made out to be AI-generated, or the image of a dead deer and a fleeing deer, both which were reportedly from other places. But were these the images that triggered the entire controversy, warranting a high-level meeting focusing just on AI-generated content?

It was the High Court Registrar’s report from the spot that led to the Supreme Court’s stay on the government action, the most telling blow for the Revanth Reddy government, which however, is still talking about and blaming Artificial Intelligence and its possible impact on the disputes on Indo-Pak and Indo-China borders!