Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy is going to open a new VLF Station/Naval Base at Pudur village in Vikarabad district. He will be joined by Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Union Minister of Coal and Mines G. Kishan Reddy, and Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar. The event is set for October 15.
The Congress government, led by Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, supports the project and is working with the Centre to establish the base. This information comes from sources in the State government.
On the other hand, the Congress criticized BRS leader K.T. Rama Rao (KTR) for opposing the project. The Congress pointed out that it was actually the BRS government that had first approved the project. They called it hypocritical for BRS to now oppose a project important for national security.
The BRS government, led by former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhara Rao, gave the final green light for the project in December 2017. A government order (GO Ms No.44) was issued for the project through the Environment, Forests, Science & Technology Department. The BRS government also approved the use of 2,900 acres of forest land in the Damagundam Reserve Forest for the base.
This approval was given to the Eastern Naval Command in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980.
The Congress further explained that Chief Minister Revanth Reddy is following the principle of continuity in governance. He is supporting the project, which is important for the nation’s security.
After the approvals, the District Forest Officer in Vikarabad requested payments from the project’s user agency to cover costs related to afforestation and other environmental requirements.
By March 2017, the user agency paid over Rs. 133.54 crores to the CAMPA account, along with other necessary payments related to tree extraction.
A report on the first stage of the project’s approval was submitted to the State government in May 2017. Later, the national Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change (MoEF & CC) requested more information, which was provided by the Telangana government in September 2017.
Finally, the MoEF & CC gave its final approval for the project in November 2017. The State government confirmed this approval in December 2017, and the District Forest Officer was informed to proceed with the remaining work.
The District Forest Officer in Vikarabad will now issue further notices for additional payments to cover 25% of the costs related to soil and moisture conservation work, as part of the final approval for the project.
