Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and CM Revanth Reddy to Lay Foundation for VLF Radar Station in Telangana
HYDERABAD: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, alongside Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, is set to lay the foundation stone for the very low-frequency (VLF) radar station in the Damagundam forest area of Vikarabad district on Tuesday. This marks the culmination of a 15-year effort by the Indian Navy to establish the VLF radar station, which will enable communication with ships and submarines using low-frequency radio waves.
The Eastern Naval Command (ENC) had requested approximately 2,730 acres in Pudur and Damagundam villages, located about 90 km from Hyderabad, for this purpose. The land acquisition process began in 2008, with Pudur mandal chosen as a strategic location to facilitate communication with deployed units in the Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, and Bay of Bengal.
Key Highlights:
- The Congress government has defended its decision to collaborate with the Centre on establishing the VLF Station/ Naval Base at Pudur Village in Ranga Reddy District.
- Final approval for the naval project was granted by the TRS (BRS) government under the leadership of then-CM K. Chandrashekar Rao.
- On December 12, 2017, the BRS government issued an order for the diversion of 1,174 hectares (2,900 acres) of forest land in the Damagundam Reserve Forest for the VLF Station/ Naval Base.
 - The BRS government also secured approval for the project in accordance with the Forest Conservation Act, 1980.
Timeline of Events:
- August 11, 2014: The District Forest Officer in Vikarabad raised a Demand Notice for payment by the User Agency regarding Compensatory Afforestation (CA) and Net Present Value (NPV).
- February 25, 2017: The Demand Notice was revised due to increased wage rates and a change of location for plantation.
- March 2, 2017: The Indian Navy paid Rs 133.54 crores for tree extraction charges as per the revised demand notice.
- May 25, 2017: The State Forest Department submitted a compliance report on Stage-I to the State Government.
- November 14, 2017: The Ministry of Environment and Forest granted Stage-II (Final) approval for the diversion of forest land.
- December 19, 2017: The State Government accorded final approval for the project. 
Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has emphasized his administration's commitment to continuity in governance and cooperative federalism, supporting a project of significant national security importance.