Formula E racing cars arrive in Hyderabad for trial run ahead of mega event in 2023

A Generation 2 Formula E car was showcased publicly on 25 September at the Durgam Cheruvu bridge in the city.

Formula E is the FIA motorsport championship for electric cars running on EV technology. The Generation 3 cars will be introduced in the Hyderabad Prix.

Formula E race cars coming to Hyderabad. First visuals and Video 👇#FormulaEracingCar#Hyderabad@KTRTRS@arvindkumar_ias pic.twitter.com/wHvnsbA5M7

— Thirupathi Bandari (@BTR_KTR) November 17, 2022

Preparations in full swing

Traffic diversion map released by the Hyderabad City Police. (Supplied)

The laying of the track and the fencing of the route are being carried out at full pace ahead of the trial run.

The venue of the race is around Necklace Road, considered to be the heart of the city, at Hussain Sagar lake, and stretches over 2.8 kilometres.

Ahead of the trial run, the Hyderabad City Police announced that the traffic would be diverted from 10 pm on 16 November to 10 pm on 20 November.

From Necklace road, the racing cars will pass through the Telugu Thali Junction, New Secretariat, NTR Garden, and then reach Mint Compound.

Protest over relocation of trees

A pruned tree at NTR Marg. (Supplied)

As per protesting environmentalists, the Telangana government has pruned and relocated around 200 healthy trees dotting the NTR Marg to hold Formula E, “founded to counteract climate change by accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles”. 

Translocation of trees is a process in which a whole tree is uprooted, instead of being chopped down, and re-planted at a different location.

The government’s move became a controversy as it came close on the heels of the city bagging the “World Green City Award 2022″.

When South First visited NTR Marg last week, shopkeepers and residents said that several trees were removed over the past few days. Construction of the track is on at a brisk pace. in some places, new saplings are being planted.

Terming it “impractical”, the environmentalists demanded that the government check the survival data of such trees.

“During the transplantation or relocation of a tree, the chances of survival are around 30 percent. In some cases, it’s even lower. And even after 30 percent survival, the tree demands intensive care,” Natasha Ramarathanam, a member of the city-based citizen’s group known as Nature Lovers of Hyderabad, told South First.

Drawing attention to the Central Vista Project in Delhi, she added that only 27-30 percent of the trees survived after a year.