Amid opposition, Telangana CM backs Vikarabad navy radar station project

He said that it was in 2017 that the land transfer was conducted by the BRS government and stressed the need to protect the forest and the ecology.

Hyderabad: Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy has urged Union defence minister Rajnath Singh to allow the locals to enter the low-frequency Navy radar station coming up in the Damagundam forest of Pudur mandal in Vikarabad district, as the Ramalingeshwara temple located inside the forest holds a sentimental value.

Rajnath Singh laid the foundation stone on Tuesday, October 15, for the VLS project and a compounď wall will be constructed around 2,900 acres of the forest which falls under the catchment of the Kagna River.

Revanth also urged the defence minister, to ensure 1/3rd of the admissions in the educational institutions that will be coming up there will be filled with local students from that area.

In a message to those opposing the project including the principal opposition party, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), Revanth said “Only if the country is there, we are there. Then we can discuss about the environment. I pray to Lord Shiva to make them understand.”

“Nobody should try to play politics in this space (national security). Hyderabad is the place for defence. There is no compromise on the national security,” he added.

He said “people could do politics elsewhere and could have their own ideologies, but it’s important that everybody comes together for the defence project.”

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He reminded that Hyderabad has been the strategic location for the defence of the country, considering the Ordinance Factory or the Nuclear Fuel Complex, and pointed out that all establishments for making the missiles were present there.

Referring to INS Kattabomman Radar Station at Tirunelveli, he said that there was “no loss or harm” to the people living in Tamil Nadu, where the same very infrastructure was first created in 1990.

He said that it was in 2017 that the land transfer was conducted by the BRS government and stressed the need to protect the forest and the ecology.