Pulgaon-like incident could kill over a lakh living 900m from Gurgaon armoury

Posted on June 1, 2016 0 Comments253

Jun 01, 2016: The Pulgaon fire has raised concerns among residents of several sectors close to the Indian Air Force ammunition depot in Gurgaon.
People fear that a similar incident could jeopardise the lives of people, especially those living close to and inside the 900-meter
restricted area.

The high-density HUDA area that includes sectors 14, 17, 18, 22, 23, and parts of Old Gurgaon are close the ammunition depot.

 A number of government offices, private companies, including Maruti Suzuki India and its vendors, operate close to the depot. There are nearly 1.5 lakh people who live in the restricted area as the last two decades witnessed a wave of illegal construction, patronised by
politicians and bureaucrats.

A survey conducted by MCG Gurgaon found there are 14,154 structures in the 2,325-acre area around the depot. The built-up area is 692 acres and recently, the state government had reduced the restricted area to 300 meters. However, this is pending in the Punjab and Haryana high court.

At least 16 defence personnel including two army officers were killed and 19 others were injured on Tuesday when an overnight fire raged through India’s biggest weapons stockpile at Pulgaon depot in Maharashtra’s Wardha district.

Strategically, the Gurgaon depot is important for the Indian armedforces due to its centralised location as it ensures armaments can be moved to two sectors in case of war occurring on multiple fronts.

During the Kargil war, ammunition and other stocks from abroad were imported and replenished with ease at the Gurgaon depot due to
availability of the air bridging facility at the Delhi airport.

However, Gurgaon residents are now more worried about their own survival rather than the strategic worth of the depot. They say an  incident like Pulgaon could lead to potential disaster. “We had boughtland here 10 years back and no one told us it is illegal. The dealers also promised the depot will be shifted but nothing happened,” said Chattarpal Yadav, who lives close to the IAF wall. Sanjay Kumar, a Sector-23 resident, said wholesale construction in the 900-meter area should have been banned.

Retired defence officials in the city, however, allayed the fears of the Gurgaon residents. “The incident at Pulgaon (sic) is a freak
incident and nothing of this sort can happen in Gurgaon. There are adequate safeguards and advanced technology used to handle ammunition,” said Major General (Retd) Ashok Sheoran, while adding the rule book should be followed in letter and spirit.

[Photo: A view of main gate of Central Ammunition Depot at Pulgaon in Maharashtra. At least 16 defence personnel were killed in a fire at the depot on Tuesday, May 31, 2016. (Sunny Shinde/ HT Photo )]

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