The Telangana government is set to hand over 2,900 acres (1,174 hectares) of the Damagundem Reserve Forest to the Indian Navy for building an Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) base station about 60 km from Hyderabad. The State will be left with 300 acres which will also be fenced and ringed with road by the Navy.
“The first stage clearance has been given and Navy officials have deposited ₹133 crore and another ₹12 lakh for fencing markers. The forest will become better with more protection as the whole area will be fenced and a road will be laid around it,” said P.K. Jha, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Telangana.
“The second stage clearance, final before handing over the forest land to the Navy, will be given once all the requirements are met,” he said.
The Naval facility sought to be built is an ELF (3 to 30 hertz) base station which will be used as a communication hub for submarines. India will be only the second country to use ELF for communication purposes after Russia. The other Indian Naval facility is at INS Kattabomman which became operational in 2014. The United States operated project ELF from 1989 to 2004 when it abandoned it in the face of massive opposition The non-ionising radiation effect on fish, birds, animals and humans led to the opposition.
Access to temple
“Naval officials have informed us that they will construct structures only in 100 acres. The rest will be used as a buffer. They are planning to lay a new road to reach Pudur village. Pilgrims visiting the Ramalingeshwara temple will be allowed day-time access,” said another official.
“During Ugadi, there is a big jatara here. The forest area is taken over by people who come from far off villages to pray. We don’t know what will happen once the Navy takes over the forest,” said Ramachandriah who takes care of the temple.
Not everyone is convinced of the benefits of the project. “The Vikarabad ridge is part of the catchment area of Musi. Once this forest is affected, there will be no inflows downstream. Hyderabad and its surrounding areas will suffer. The groundwater table will go down further if this forest is removed from the picture,” said Lubna Sarwath of Save Our Urban Lakes.
Venkatesh Goteti, an IT professional, said: “Hyderabad has very few natural habitats. The Vikarabad forest is one of them. I have seen wild boars hereDozens of animals can be spotted from the ridge.”
