Bathinda Cantt needs security revamp

Sanjeev Singh Bariana

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, February 14

Bathinda cantonment, the largest in Asia, continues to function with a porous boundary line of 45 km despite the recent terror attacks in the state.

While the security at the Pathankot Air Force Station — part of the IAF Western Air Command — is being studied by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs in wake of the recent terrorist attack there, few barbed wires amid a very thick growth of shrubs guard the cantonment here.

The military area has the National Highway-64 passing through it. It is being broadened as heavier traffic inflow on it has been projected.

The cantonment, which houses one of the biggest ammunition depots in the country, also has a canal of the Bathinda distributory and heavy rail traffic passing through the middle.

Besides, the cantonment’s legal establishment is handling dozens of cases of illegal construction under the Gazette of India notification dated February 2, 2005.

Under the law, there can be no construction within 1,200 yards of the outer parapet. The establishment has an important road link next to the cantonment land which has not been opened due to ongoing litigation.

A senior officer said, “There are certain security concerns which we are looking into at the right quarters. All our security services were double-checked after the recent attacks in Pathankot. Besides an in-house update, the Bathinda cantonment, in consultation with the local police under an IGP-level officer, has given special training to a group of 50 policemen against terrorist attacks.”

“While an over-bridge takes care of the mobility of vehicles into the civil area, another over-bridge and an under-bridge, that will come up shortly, should insulate our establishment from the civil area totally for independent functioning,” he said.

A senior officer said, “All cantonments have some roads or road links connecting them, but generally none of those pass through the core area. In any case, the need to cover the area with barbed wires over a concrete wall needs to be given serious thought.”

The Army quarters had taken up the issue of “oil depots in the adjoining area and unauthorised constructions coming up in the vicinity of the Bathinda ammunition dump fearing an explosion and unthinkable devastation” a few years back. However, nothing mentionable happened.

Ammunition depots were set up here during the 1970s as the area was very sparsely populated. A senior officer said, “The planners and officers have not given due regard to maintaining the empty spaces in the area adjoining the cantonment. The cases are still pending.”