Speaking at the event Tuesday, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh Tripathi said the VLF station will “play an important role in enabling the seamless secure worldwide communication, including most importantly, with our dived submarines”.
Once operational, this will be the second such facility in the country. India’s first VLF station, at INS Kattabomman in Tamil Nadu’s Tirunelveli, has been operational since 1990.
The Eastern Naval Command, headquartered in Visakhapatnam, had submitted a proposal for diversion of 2,900 acres of forest land in Damagundam Reserve Forest for the project in September 2010, before the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and creation of Telangana.
At least 1,400 acres of this land was meant for technical areas, offices and residences, and the remaining earmarked as restricted area, to be fenced off owing to the nature of the project, and preserved as a green belt. As early as 2010, the project ran into rough weather, with environmental activists and villagers claiming it would lead to axing of nearly 12 lakh trees in an ecologically sensitive area. The proposed site of the VLF station is also where Muchukunda/Musi river, that passes through Hyderabad, originates.
In June 2020, a writ petition was also filed in the high court by the Damagundam Forest Protection Joint Action Committee seeking cancellation of the project. The case is pending and no directions have been issued by the high court in the matter so far.
The Revanth Reddy government handed over 2,900-acre forest land to the Navy for the project in January of this year. The project is expected to be completed by 2027.
The Navy in a communication dated 8 October, 2024, told the Telangana forest department that the project is unlikely to lead to felling of more than 1,000 trees. “A vast majority of the affected trees will be transplanted within the project area only and maximum effort will be taken to minimise the number of trees to be cut,” it said.
State government officials said the “forest land diverted (for the project) contains only around two lakh trees and most of them will not be felled”.
“Only around 8 percent of the area will be actually utilised for construction purposes and the remaining 92 percent will be retained as a green belt,” Captain G.M. Rao, officer in charge, project management and implementation team, told ThePrint. “We intend to engage a separate contractor for translocation, preferably under an NGO supervision, as we take our commitment seriously.”
A CMO official added, “Gram Sabha resolutions favouring the project were obtained in addition to the RoFR (recognition of forest rights) certificate from the district collector. So, it is incorrect to say locals are obstructing the project.”
Opposition to the project
Those voicing concerns about the environmental impact of the project found an ally in BRS working president and former state minister K.T. Rama Rao (KTR), who in a statement Monday asked, “One side CM Revanth wants to rejuvenate, beautify Musi by spending Rs 1.5 lakh crore, but on the other, is backing the station that endangers the river. What is this duality? In return of what gains is the CM mortgaging the interests of the state, its people?”
KTR claimed the previous government led by his father KCR resisted allotment of land for the project despite pressure from the Centre. He demanded that Damagundam-Vikarabad forest area be declared an eco-sensitive zone like Gangotri, from where the river Ganges originates. “Why the station, ought to be set up away from populated spots, was brought here, in the first place? About 12 lakh trees have to be axed to build this project on 2,900 acres. The station is a death knell for the source of Musi river,” he said.
Hyderabad witnessed some street protests opposing the VLFS in recent weeks, while the National Alliance of People’s Movement (NAPM) reportedly wrote to CM Revanth Reddy, arguing that felling of trees on such a large scale would lead to soil erosion, impacting the river basin.
Commenting on the issue, environmentalist K. Purushotham Reddy told ThePrint, “The Damagundam-Vikarabad forests-hills are in-fact the source of three rivers—Musi, its tributary Esa, and also the Kagna. It is an area of beautiful ecology. While the government espouses grand plans to rejuvenate Musi, it should respect its source.”
“Agree, national security is paramount but water, biosphere security for the future generations too is something we should not overlook. Can’t we locate the station somewhere else,” he asked.
‘Rising above ideologies’
Addressing government officials and Naval officers following the foundation stone-laying ceremony Tuesday, CM Revanth Reddy took aim at the opposition BRS, saying, “Some political forces are trying to create controversy over VLFS, a national security project, creating misconceptions and attempting to stoke public fears. A similar facility has been functioning in Tamil Nadu since 1990 with no harm, no loss to the locals there.”
He added that land transfer, allocation of funds and other key decisions regarding the project were taken in 2017, during KCR’s first term as CM. “Politics, politicking should be only during elections. We should be one, move together, when it comes to national security/defence. Despite we being from different parties, when I was approached by Singh for the project, I assured full support. I instructed my officials to go ahead with uncompromising assistance to strengthen our country’s defence sector,” he said.
“We survive only when the country exists. Our region will develop when we exist,” the chief minister said, while also appealing to environmental activists to rethink their opposition to the project. He also requested Singh to respect local sentiments by allowing continued access to the Ramalingeswara Swamy shrine located on land allotted for the project.
Sources in the Navy confirmed to ThePrint that the shrine and its kolanu (sacred water tank) were excluded from land diverted for the project and access to it will not be obstructed in any manner.
Speaking after CM Reddy, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh remarked, “When it comes to our nation’s security and sovereignty, everyone rises above (political) ideologies, religion and sects to become one.” This was seen as an apparent response to objections to the project, and acknowledgement of the Reddy-led Congress government’s support for it.
Singh also addressed concerns about the project’s environmental impact, saying sustainable development is among the Centre’s priorities. The VLF station will open new vistas of employment for the local population, he said. “A fool-proof communication proves to be a decisive factor between victory and defeat. Without real time communication, we cannot gain an edge despite having adequate equipment or manpower,” he added.
Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh Tripathi said the project “will herald a new chapter in Indian Navy’s communication capabilities and complement the existing VLF station at INS Kattabomman, in Tirunelveli.
Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy, who is also Telangana BJP chief, too castigated BRS “for its duality on the Navy project, approving land transfer when in power, obstructing later and now registering its objections.” Slamming BRS for “spreading misinformation,” he accused the party of taking an irresponsible stand over matters of national security.
KTR, speaking to reporters Wednesday, said BRS is committed to national security and claimed CM Revanth Reddy is scared of uttering a single word against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and is more vocal on matters of national security than BJP leaders.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
