Hyderabad: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be laying the foundation stone on Tuesday for the Indian Navy's proposed Very Low Frequency (VLF) radar station at the Damagundam forest area in Telangana, Union Minister G Kishan Reddy said.
Addressing a press conference, he said it was a proud moment for Telangana as the project, the second such centre in the country, is important in terms of national security. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Kishan Reddy will also take part in the foundation stone laying ceremony.
Refuting the allegations made by BRS leader K T Rama Rao, that his party is opposing the construction of the radar station in Vikarabad District as it would create ecological imbalance, Reddy said it was the previous K Chandrasekhar Rao-led regime which gave land and permissions to the Centre.
"In December 2017, the Telangana government's Forest and Environment Department gave the clearance. As per the GO issued then, 2,900 acres of land at Dhamagundam Forest area were given for the project," the Telangana BJP chief said.
Reddy further said the project was conceptualised in 2010 when Manmohan Singh was the prime minister. The union minister said as there is a need to cut some trees to construct the radar centre, Rs 130 crore was deposited with the Forest department by the Defence Ministry.
Rama Rao on Monday alleged that the project is being taken up in 2,900 acres of land by felling 12 lakh trees. Reddy said out of the 2,900 acres of land there will not be any construction in 1,500 acres. "Not even a single plant will be removed in 1,500 acres," he asserted.
Accommodations for the naval staff would be constructed in some parts of the land, he said. He appealed to political parties not to create controversies out of the project.
