Telangana government agrees to give 1,000 acre forest land for defence

Hyderabad: The TS government has agreed to give the ministry of defence over 1,000 acres of forest land near Vikarabad in exchange for 100 acres of defence land in Secunderabad. The government has decided to construct two flyovers, from Paradise to Bowenpally and from Paradise to Rajiv Rahadari, to connect Hyderabad, Karimnagar and Ramagundam National Highway and ease traffic, for which it needs about 100 acres of defence land in the Bowenpally area. In exchange, the Defence Department asked the government for 1,000 to 1,500 acres of land for establishment of a long-range rifle shooting range. The TS government sent a circular to all district collectors, asking them to identify suitable lands in their districts, to be allotted to the Defence Department. The government was finally able to zero down on 1,000 acres of forest land in Vikarabad district; and officials of the Defence Department visited the area to inspect it.

Sunil Sharma, Principal Secretary of the Department of Roads and Buildings, said that officials from the Defence Department inspected the area and expressed their willingness to accept the land for the setup a long-range rifle shooting range. He said that after their visit, the officials posed some queries to the government regarding the cost of land and other details.

Mr Sunil Sharma said that villagers living in the vicinity had no objections to the setup of the shooting range, and this had been conveyed to the Defence officials. Earlier, the State Government had allotted 100 acres of land near Vikarabad to the Police Department, for them to set up a short-range rifle shooting range, but villagers who lived nearby had strongly opposed the government’s decision, and had taken up agitations.

The Principal Secretary said that once the State Government and the Defence Department reached an agreement, a detailed project report (DPR) would be prepared for the construction of the flyovers. The Central Government has to approve the allotment of forest land to the Defence Department, but the State Government expects no problems as the Defence Department is a part of the Central Government.