Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, on Tuesday, laid the foundation for the second Very Low Frequency (VLF) Naval station of the Indian Navy in the Damagundam forest area near Pudur in the Vikarabad district of Telangana assuring that the project won’t have an adverse impact on the ecology and instead will act as a ‘growth pole’ for locals.

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy said though he and Singh belonged to different political ideologies, they would work together to ensure the security of the nation while slamming the BRS for opposing the project which is key to enhancing Indian Navy’s communication capability with submarines and ships.

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The BRS has announced support to the environmentalists and locals opposing the project on 2900 acres of forest land which also serves as the catchment area of River Musi.

Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, whose assembly constituency falls in this area, said when it is a question of the country’s security, the state and Centre must cooperate. “When it comes to matters of defence of the country we have to work together. There is no place for wrong politics and if someone wants to then I will pray to Shivji (the local deity) that they come to their senses. In this country, Hyderabad is the place where there are large numbers of defence, ordinance, nuclear fuel complexes and other such security establishments. Hyderabad and our state are strategic locations for the country,” he pointed out.

Stating that politics should be confined to the time of elections, he assured the Navy officials that his government would provide full support during the construction period. He urged them to ensure that the locals were not barred from attending the Ramalingeshwar Shiva temple and reserve one-third of the seats for locals in the educational institutions coming up in this naval township.

Lashing out at the BRS, Reddy said, “Some people are just giving political statements. Everything has been taken care of to ensure the protection of this biodiversity and ecology. They are telling lakhs of trees will be felled. But they are experts in lying. They had looted Telangana for ten years by telling lies.”

Although environmental activists said lakhs of trees would be felled for the project, the government asserted that the number was only 1,500 and most of these will be translocated.

Rajnath Singh said his government was serious when it comes to environment and sustainable development and assured that if necessary, affected people would be rehabilitated. “In the past 35 years of INS Kattaboman, the first VLF transmission facility in Tamil Nadu has been functional but there has been no impact on the ecosystem. Both its biodiversity and wildlife are secured, anyone can go and check. With advanced technology we are ensuring there is no advance impact on the environment here,” claimed the Union minister.

Appreciating the generosity of Reddy, he said, “Politics should not be done just to form governments but for development of the country.”

Government sources countered BRS’s opposition pointing out that it was the KCR government which had given consent to the project in 2017.