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Three tall radio transmitter towers rising to a height of 500 metres (about 165 floors) high will soon dot the skyline of Vikarabad, 75 km from Hyderabad in Telangana, when the Indian Navy completes building the strategic Very Low Frequency Station (VLS) providing vital communication link for the stealth submarine fleet in the Indian Ocean and beyond.
Work on the station, which is expected to begin later this month, will be formally kicked off once Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh lays the foundation stone for the facility in the presence of the Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi, Eastern Naval Chief Vice Admiral Rajesh Pendharkar and other top officers at the site inside Damagudam reserve forest on October 15.
The project of “great importance to national security” will be culmination of a more than three decade search for Indian Navy to set up the VLF station to have an uninterrupted communication with its submarine fleet minus any natural obstacles in view of the heightened security atmosphere in the neighbourhood and world over, points out Capt. G.M. Rao, overseeing its implementation.
Vikarabad’s Pudur village was found to be the best location from among the three choices narrowed down for having 300 km of unhindered signal transmission ability without any mountain ranges and high altitude with the other two being – Donakonda in Andhra Pradesh and Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu.
A facility was built in Tirunelveli in 1990, but soon the Navy realised there were “shadow regions” where signals were getting interrupted. Then, way back in 2010 itself, the security security establishment had decided to shift the VLS to Vikarabad and State Government too had consented, explains Capt. Rao, an alumnus of the Hyderabad Public School – Begumpet.
The requirement is for 2,900 acres (1,174 hectares) of forest land in lieu of which the forest department has to plant 11.74 lakh trees at 1,000 per hectare on a payment of ₹73.37 crore and this was done in March 2017. There was a lull in hand over of the site for few years but, once the top national security officials explained about the strategic importance of the facility, Mr. Revanth Reddy had cleared the decks, he explains.
“Tirunelveli VLS has been functioning for last 34 years with no adverse health complaints to anyone. VLF towers radiation is bare minimal and is contained within the facility near the antennas and it is less than a cell phone. Our facility will be built in just 8.16% of the are allocated and more than 50% forest land will not be disturbed. About 350 acres of reserve forest preserved as it is and animals will be allowed to move freely without hindrance,” avers Capt. Rao.
Majority of the less than 1,000 trees directly affected are to be translocated by voluntary organisation Vata Foundation. Bowing to local sentiment, a road is being laid exclusive for a temple inside with 44 acres earmarked. The entire facility is fully compliant with the statutory environment clearances with the highest safety standards being followed, will be walled and fenced with round the clock security and infra-red cameras. A modern sewage treatment plant will also be built in the self-contained township to house about 700-odd naval officers and personnel in three years time, added Capt. Rao.
Published – October 06, 2024 02:54 pm IST
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