HYDERABAD: The ministry of defence has asked the state government to provide 500 to 600 acres of land for setting up a heavy artillery firing range on the outskirts of the state capital.
At a recent meeting held in Delhi with state government officials, defence ministry officials said that they required some extent of land near Hyderabad for establishing a heavy artillery firing range which requires land nearly 5 km long and 800 metres wide.
“We have identified that some forest lands in Vikarabad and normal lands in Wanaparthy are available for handing over to the defence ministry,” a state official, who had participated in the meeting with defence officials, told Express.Official sources also stated that a deal with the defence ministry for constructing two flyovers near Paradise Junction was also finalised. According to the deal, the defence ministry will hand over around 100 acres of its land near Paradise Junction to the state government for this purpose.
In return, the state government will hand over 500 acres of land at Jawahar Nagar on the outskirts of the city to the defence ministry. Going by the market price of these two lands, the defence ministry wanted the government to pay it ` 93 crore, besides the 500 acres of land. “We agreed, in principle, to this. The file will be circulated by the defence ministry soon and the construction of flyovers will commence shortly,” the sources added.
The construction of two flyovers from Paradise will ease traffic on the stretch from Secunderabad to Suchitra Junction. The two flyovers _ Paradise-Bowenpally and Paradise-ORR _ will be helpful to the government in case it constructs a new Secretariat building on Bison Polo grounds.
However, the Bison Polo grounds land issue did not figure at the meeting. Handing over Bison Polo grounds in Secunderabad to the state government would take much time as the defence ministry had lot of procedures to follow, the sources said. The issue of handing over Gough Road in Secunderabad was postponed to next meeting. Once it hands over the road to the state, the defence ministry will take an alternative road for military purposes.
Army needs big firing range for practice
The heavy artillery firing range requires land that is nearly 5 km long and 800 metres wide.
Army personnel are now unable to practice long-range rifle shooting in the city due to lack of sprawling ranges. The existing ranges are sufficient only for short-range firing practice.