'Not about nat'l security': Telangana activists on CM's naval radar station remarks

Hyderabad: Environmental activists in the Vikarabad district are opposing the Indian Navy’s Very Low-Frequency Radar Station in the Damagundam Forest.

They disagreed with Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy’s statement that they have vested interests and are threatening national security with their opposition to the radar station.

“It is not about the national security. They only want to avail all the facilities close to the twin-cities. They just want to enjoy,” said a leader of the Jala Sadhana Samithi, Dusharla Satyanarayana.

He questioned why the Indian Navy couldn’t find an alternative location when there were many such locations available in Telangana.

A journalist, Thulasi Chandu, who waged the last leg of the decades-old movement to save the forest made it clear that nobody was opposing national security.

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“We are only asking why the environmental impact assessment report hasn’t been revealed till now. What is the impact on the medicinal plants, on the sanctity of the temple, and on the biodiversity and forest’s ecology,” she told Siasat.com.

“The chief minister is holding a meeting and giving a speech from the forest, but why no publicity was given to the project the way it is given to welfare schemes,” she wondered.

She further questioned why the state government wouldn’t hold awareness programmes and public hearings on the issue in the forest and the villagers surrounding it. “In February 300 acres of the Damagundam forest caught fire, and the fire wasn’t normal,” she revealed.

Earlier in the day, Revanth Reddy issued a stern warning to activists and political leaders, cautioning them against jeopardizing national security and stirring controversy around the Indian Navy’s radar station. He made these remarks while addressing the audience after laying the foundation stone for the project.

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