Kendrapara: Plans to install sophisticated radars for air surveillance by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in coastal Mahakalpada block in Kendrapara district of Orissa has sparked resentment among the local inhabitants.

The opposition is being fuelled by the apprehension that the establishment of the defence project in thickly populated areas could jeopardise their safety, Mahakalpada Block chairman Balaram Parida said.

"National security, no doubt, is of paramount importance and there should be no compromise on it. But the choice of a place like Mahakalpada defies logic," he said.

District Collector Hemant Sharma said though he had not received any complaint from any one officially, the opposition to the proposal was a "panic reaction".

"There is nothing to be worried about it as the project is totally different from the test ranges at Chandipur and Wheelers' island, Sharma said.

The DRDO has asked for a patch of ten acres and checking out on three different locations of Batighar, False Point and Jamboo, he said adding the DRDO's scientific team would select one of these sites for radar installation during their proposed visit soon.

Official sources said DRDO's plans to tighten air surveillance came in the wake of perceptible threat posed to defence installations at Chandipur and at Wheelers' island.

People in the Baliapal area of Balasore district had offered stiff resistance to the proposed establishment of the National Test Range (NTR) project there in the early 1980's.

"This led to the shifting of the test range to the Wheelers' island while an Interim Test Range (ITR) was set up at Chandipur-on-sea."

PTI