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Pulgaon-like incident could kill 1.5 lakh living 900m away from Gurgaon armoury
GURGAON: 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
GURGAON: 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-metre 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 Bharatpur ammunition depot destroyed in a blast
Fire damages ammunition storehouse in Pathankot Sri Ganganagar ammunition depot destroyed Blaze destroys Dappar ammunition warehouse the restricted area to 300 metres. However, this is pending in the Punjab and Haryana high court.
Strategically, the Gurgaon depot is important for the Indian armed forces 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 availFire singes Jodhpur ordinance depot CAD, Pulgaon ammo yard destroyed
Blast destroys FOD Kundru ammunition armory Panagarh ammunition depot destroyed. ability of the air bridging facility at the Delhi airport.
However, Gurgaon residents are now worried about their own survival than the strategic worth of the depot. They said an incident like Pulgaon could lead to potential disaster. “We had bought land 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.
