Addressing a press conference, Kishan Reddy said 1,500 acres of the 2,900 acres of the Damagundam forest land in Vikarabad being allocated for the project would be left “untouched with not a single plant harmed”.
Hyderabad: Union Coal Minister G Kishan Reddy on Tuesday said the proposed Very Low Frequency (VLF) station of the Indian Navy at Pudur village in Damagundam forest of Vikarabad district would not create environmental issues and alleged that political parties were opposing it for political gains.
Addressing a press conference, Kishan Reddy said 1,500 acres of the 2,900 acres of the Damagundam forest land in Vikarabad being allocated for the project would be left “untouched with not a single plant harmed”. About Rs.134 crore was handed over to the Forest department for new plantations and for the land, he said, adding that there were 1.95 lakh trees in the designated area of which only 1,500 trees would be affected and these would be translocated as the space would be used for building accommodation for the naval personnel.
“Navy Base Centre will bring employment opportunities to the region,” he claimed, also accusing the BRS of opposing national defence initiatives while engaging in political gamesmanship. The project, originally proposed in 2010, received environmental and forest clearances from the BRS government in 2017, allowing for the allocation of 1,100 hectares in the Hyderabad Forest Division for its development, he claimed
He urged the BRS and Congress parties to refrain from politicizing national defence issues.
