Tribals protest setting of firing range; stall awareness meet

Tension prevailed in a hamlet of Andhra Pradesh's Nalgonda district when a group of tribals including women held angry protests against the visit of an expert team and obstructed them from holding an awareness meet on setting of Rachakonda Field Firing Range (RFFR).
Some of the protesting tribals poured kerosene on themselves and also on one official of Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) during the protest at a hamlet of Narayanpur mandal in Nalgonda, even as village elders immediately intervened and pacified them, police said.
The protesters also damaged window panes of at least two vehicles, they said.
The lathi wielding protesters raised slogans and threatened to immolate themselves, if the BDL and government officials visited their hamlet again, a police official said.

There has been a long-pending proposal to set up the firing range in Rachakonda hills. However, the tribals, fearing displacement, have been opposing it.
A team of scientists from the BDL today visited the Rachakonda hills with a view to create awareness and explain the local tribals and educate them that the RFFR will cause no harm to them. They were accompanied by Narayanpur tehsildar M Jayamma, Nalgonda Revenue Development Officer M D Zaheer and other authorities.
However, following the angry protests and strong opposition, the BDL and district authorities had to return without holding any awareness programme.
The Andhra Pradesh government had recently issued an order transferring over 5,500 hectares of forest land from the Army (which was earlier leased to Army) to BDL for setting up of the proposed RFFR.