Speakers at a round table conference on the proposed BDL Field Firing Range (FFR) at Rachakonda in the Samshtan Narayanpuram Mandal of Nalgonda district on Saturday urged the government to drop the move, failing which they threatened to launch an agitation.
Bahujana Communist Party State leader K. Parvathalu said that the government had allotted 11 acres for the FFR and feared that the area would be increased in future. CPM District Secretary Nandyala Narsimha Reddy said that it was not mandatory for the government to set up the FFR near the state capital.
TJAC G Venkateshwarlu, Venu Sankoju and Kiran pointed out that Rachakonda was a historically important place with several temples and other monuments on and around it.
Hence, the government should drop the move to set up the FFR there and, instead, develop the area as a tourist centre.