The central government has restarted the survey for extracting uranium resources from the Nallamala forests, according to recent reports about the Uranium Corporation of India (UCIL) conducting surveys in Nalgonda district. In Shivarlapenta, a suburb located in the Krishna catchment area of Pedda Adisharlapalli mandal, a helicopter has been circling persistently for two days. The aircraft, equipped with a small machine, hovers at a low altitude, causing unease among local residents who fear the ongoing survey is focused on uranium exploration.
Community concerns stem from the belief that a helipad has been established on the right bank of Nagarjuna Sagar, serving as a base for the survey across the backwaters of the Sagar into the areas of Peddagattu and Nambapuram. The UCIL, which identified uranium deposits in this region 25 years ago, had previously conducted a survey and drilled boreholes.
These activities have reignited concerns among locals who fear potential pollution of the Sagar waters, posing a threat to human survival in the Peddagattu, Nambapuram, and Peddamula areas of the mandal, all situated under the Krishna catchment area.
In 2003, then-Collector Sisodia conducted a referendum at PA Pally and Seripally due to escalating concerns. Numerous political parties, public associations, and environmentalists opposed the survey. In 2019, the Telangana Assembly passed a unanimous resolution urging the central government to withdraw the proposal of uranium mining in Nallamala forest. Minister KT Rama Rao moved the resolution in the Assembly to save the Nallamala forests.