HYDERABAD: Union coal and mines minister G. Kishan Reddy criticised BRS president K. Chandrashekar Rao and his son K.T. Rama Rao for politicising issues related to defence and national security, and called their actions highly unbecoming. He also urged civil society to condemn the politicisation of such matters.
Kishan Reddy said it was unethical for the BRS leaders to create controversy over the defence ministry’s decision to establish a prestigious radar station at Damagudem near Vikarabad. Telangana, already home to numerous Army, Air Force, and defence units, is set to receive a Navy installation in the form of this radar station.
At a press conference, the Union minister said that the Damagudem radar station would be the second of its kind in the country, after the INS Kattabomman at Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu and would monitor submarine and ship movements.
Kishan Reddy said that the proposal for the radar station was initially floated during former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s tenure in 2010, but it faced delays under the previous BRS government in securing necessary clearances.
After prolonged correspondence, the project finally received clearance in 2017 with the allocation of 2,900 acres of land through GO 44 from the previous BRS government. Kishan Reddy criticised the BRS for adopting double standards by delaying the project further, demanding the Bison Polo Ground for the new Secretariat building. Environmentalists and sports enthusiasts had opposed the use of the Bison Polo Ground, even taking the matter to court.
The Union minister also accused the BRS leaders of consistently politicising national security issues for personal political gains and disrespecting the bravery of Indian soldiers. He recalled that Chandrashekhar Rao had previously taken a stance similar to Pakistan’s by questioning and seeking evidence of surgical strikes by the Indian Air Force and the Galwan Valley clashes between Indian and Chinese troops.
Kishan Reddy strongly condemned the opposition to the radar station, which had received land approval during the BRS government. He explained that the ministry of defence had allocated `130 crore to plant twice the number of trees impacted by the radar station and housing colony in 209 acres of the 2,900-acre site. Of the 1.95 lakh trees identified within the radar station’s boundaries, only 1,500 would be affected, and efforts would be made to relocate them.
He also dismissed false claims that people would be restricted from visiting the Ramalingeshwara Temple in Damagudem once the radar station was built. On the contrary, he said, the temple would be developed, and the tree cover in the area would be enhanced.