Defence Minister Rajnath Singh laid the foundation stone for the Indian Navy’s Very Low Frequency (VLF) communication transmission station in Telangana’s Vikarabad district on Tuesday.
Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, Union Minister for Coal and Mines G. Kishan Reddy and Union Minister of State for Home Bandi Sanjay Kumar attended the programme at Puduru village.
The state government in January this year transferred 1,174 hectares of forest land for the station, which is expected to be completed in 2027.
The Navy uses VLF communication transmission stations to communicate with ships and submarines.
This will be the second such station in the country. INS Kattabomman Radar Station at Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu was the first of its kind. It has been serving the Navy since 1990. The Eastern Naval Command in Visakhapatnam had identified Telangana as a suitable area for setting up a second radar station.
The Union Forest and Environment Department approved the Navy’s proposals in 2014. Campa funds of Rs 133.54 crore for handing over forest land have been paid. The Navy has also paid Rs 18.56 crore for the works undertaken for land conservation measures.
Meanwhile, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K. T. Rama Rao has opposed setting up the VLF radar station, saying it threatens the ecosystem of the Musi River. He said the station was coming up in Damagundam forest, where the Musi originates.
He slammed the Congress government for its “double standards”. On one hand, the government has taken up a project for the beautification of Musi River while on the other it is writing a “death warrant” for the river by agreeing to VLF radar station, he said.
The BRS leader alleged that the installation of a radar station would cause serious damage to the environment. He said the project will be undertaken by cutting down 12 lakh trees along with around 2900 acres of forest land.
Rama Rao said for 10 years, the BRS government did not give permission for the radar station and asked the Congress government why it agreed to the project.
However, the Congress government claimed that the final approval for the radar station was given in 2017 when TRS (BRS) was in power. It clarified that Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy merely respected the age-old concept of continuity of governance, and cooperative federalism, and supported a project of national security and significance.
The ruling party alleged that with KTR opposing the project, BRS’ “hypocrisy was exposed”.