The announcement on the VLF station came after a meeting between Indian Navy officials and CM Revanth Reddy on 24 January.
Published Jan 25, 2024 | 8:35 AM ⚊ Updated Jan 25, 2024 | 8:35 AM
The Indian Navy officials with CM Revanth Reddy (Supplied)
Some 1,174 hectares of forest land under the Damagudem Reserve Forest in Telangana’s Vikarabad district have been handed over to the Indian Navy to set up a VLF (very low frequency) communication transmission station — only the second such station in the country.
The announcement came after a meeting between senior Indian Navy officials and Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Wednesday, 24 January.
The VLF station — to be set up in the Damagudem forest area near Pudur — will be used by the navy to communicate with ships and submarines.
This is only the second such VLF station in the country. The INS Kattabomman Radar Station at Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, was the first of its kind and has been serving the Navy since 1990.
The Eastern Naval Command in Visakhapatnam, which identified Telangana as a suitable for setting up a second VLF station, had been in negotiations with the state government since 2010.
Despite receiving all environmental permits and clearances, the allotment of land did not happen under the previous BRS governments. However, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy took special initiative to clear all obstacles, said an official release.
Vikarabad forest officials and and the Naval Command Agency signed the agreement to transfer the 1,174 acres of forest land.
The Navy was represented by Commodore Karthik Shankar, Circle DEO Rohit Bhupathi, and Captain Sandeep Das, who met Revanth Reddy on Wednesday.
In 2014 itself, the Union Forest and Environment Department approved the Navy’s proposals. Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) funds of ₹133.54 crore for handing over forest land and ₹18.56 crore for the works undertaken for land conservation measures has been paid by the Navy to the government.
There was petition in court seeking to cancel the project but the Telangana Hight Court issued orders to take all precautions in accordance with the conditions decided by the government.
Along with the navy station, a township with schools, hospitals, banks and markets will come up in the area for navy personnel.
Adequate measures would be taken to preserve biodiversity and ecological balance in the region through extensive planting of trees. As a part of this project, about 27 km of road will be constructed around the Damagundam Reserve Forest.
The new VLF station will be completed by 2027.
