The State government has in principle decided to spare 121 hectares of revenue land for the Rs. 1,000-crore Missile Test Launch Facility project proposed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in Nagayalanka mandal of Krishna district.
N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, during his tenure as Chief Minister, had signed a file approving allocation of land for the project, sources told The Hindu . The swift move taken by the government prompted the DRDO authorities to speed up studies to obtain clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests.
In February, 2013, Defence Minister A.K. Antony had told the Rajya Sabha that the Centre had requested the A.P. government to “spare unassigned revenue and reserve forest land at Nagayalanka” for setting up the project. According to the DRDO Hyderabad team, which carried out the land suitability study in and around the Sorlagondi Reserve Forest and strategic areas in Nagayalanka, a total of 151 hectares were identified and marked.
They include 41 hectares of forest land, including a portion from the Krishna Wildlife Sanctuary (KWL).
An inspection carried out by Chief Wildlife Warden and Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife-AP) A.V. Joseph has revealed that the DRDO has proposed the forest land in KWL to develop technical facilities such as launch pad (6 ha) and a roadway, covering 30 hectares.
Sources told The Hindu that the DRDO officials had promised to grow mangrove plant species in 80 hectares in compensation for the forest land to be set apart for the project.
However, talks with the AP Wildlife Board are yet to materialise in this regard in order to spare the respective forest area in Nagayalanka mandal.
(By: The Hindu)
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