Firing ranges spark stirs in Ranga Reddy

Hyderabad: Locals at Koheda and Zaidupally in Ranga Reddy district are preparing to launch protests after the government decided to establish firing ranges for the police there.

The police was using firing ranges at the Greyhounds headquarters at Premavathipet near Narsingi and the IAF Academy at Hakimpet.

Following a decade-old demand for a firing range for the city, Cyberabad and Ranga Reddy police, the RR district administration identified about 25 acres at Koheda in survey numbers 581, 582 and 585 in Hayathnagar mandal and 10 acres of government land in Zaidupally village near Vikarabad. The land belongs to the forest department.

The land for the proposed firing range is very close to Ramoji Film City and Polkampally. Both the proposed ranges are located close to human habitations.

People from both Koheda and Zaidupally are opposed to the firing ranges. Officials from the law office of the RR collector said the proposals had not been finalised.

Zaidupally village sarpanch T. Santhosha told DC that the land was about 200 metres rs away from human habitations. ?Shepherds used to pass through the proposed land. We protested many times but there was no response from the government,? she said and added that they would stage protests.

She said the tahsildar at Dharur was saying that there was no government land available for the construction of double bedroom houses for the poor.  

“We demand that the government should provide this 10 acres for the construction of houses for the villagers. With the firing range just 200 metres from the village, it can become a problem for us,” she said.

Koheda sarpanch Sanem Anjaiah Goud opposed the proposal of the government to provide 25 acres belonging to the village for the firing range.

“We have given a representation to the tahsildar containing our objections. We will hold a panchayat meeting and decide on an action plan to protest the decision,” he said.

Tahsildars G. Ramesh of Hayathnagar and K. Srinivas of Dharur told this newspaper that the allotment of land  had been made at the collectors’s level, and officials from the collectorate were visiting the sites.

Casualties due to careless attitude

Most injuries and deaths near firing ranges are caused by lack of precautions, alerts and safety measures by the authorities.

Retired additional DCP B. Reddanna told this newspaper that firing ranges must have strong walls. “A siren should be sounded in localities near by at least an hour before practice starts. Such a system does not exist in the city,” he said.

Mr Reddanna said firing ranges should be established in isolated areas. He said first-time weapon users are prone to committing mistakes during training, which could result in injuries and deaths of civilians.

“Many weapons have a kill range of 400 yards but the bullets can reach 1,000 metres. If the wind is good, the bullet can travel another 200 metres,” he said.

He said that trainees must submit a record of used bullets. “If anyone loses cartridges they must give an explanation. Trainers must deposit the cartridges at the armoury,” he said.