By IANS
Srinagar : A massive clearance operation is underway around the army’s 21 field ordnance depot (FOD) in the south Kashmir village of Khandroo to remove unexploded bombs and shells in the aftermath of its destruction in a blaze last weekend.
Lieutenant General H.S. Panag, general officer commanding (GOC) of the army’s northern command told reporters in south Kashmir Monday that 43 bomb disposal teams were already clearing the area around the camp “to facilitate the safe return of civilian population to their homes”.
“Another 60 to 70 more teams are being airlifted to help the massive sanitization operation,” he said.
“We shall have to clear an eight-kilometre area around the camp of unexploded shells lying in fields, on the roads and inside the houses before the civilians can be allowed to return back,” he said. “But, we can only enter the FOD after another 48 hours from now (Monday morning) which is the mandatory period in such accidents.”
Massive explosions in the Khandroo FOD, 15 km from district headquarters of Anantnag, Saturday resulted in the entire complex catching fire, creating panic among residents of 18 villages around the camp. Thousands of villagers had to be evacuated to safer places. Villagers Sunday were advised not to return to their homes as some unexploded shells were still lying at many places around the depot
Panag said two military firemen and two villagers were killed in the inferno while nine troopers, 13 military fire fighters and two civilian labourers are still missing.
Panag categorically refuted guerrilla claims that they had attacked the FOD.
“It was a purely accidental fire that caused the explosions. One major, two soldiers and two civilian labourers entered the shed number 16 in the morning of Aug 11 and the fire started from that shed,” he said.
“The inferno first started in incendiary ammunition which does not explode, but it later engulfed other sheds where sensitive explosive ammunition was stored,” the GOC said.
He said that 50 to 60 percent sheds are still intact.
Asked to comment on the quantity and the cost of the ammunition stored inside the FOD, the GOC refused to answer. “The capacity of the depot is classified and I cannot give it to you. Yes, damage has been caused to the local ecology by way of burning of forest trees in the area and also to some houses and shops there.”
Asked whether the army was thinking of relocating the FOD from Khandroo, lieutenant general Panag said the issue would be examined after the enquiry report, already ordered into the incident, was received.
“This FOD was established here in 1948 when very few civilians lived around. With the increase in the population more villages have been established in the area,” he pointed out.
The GOC commended the military firemen who risked their lives to bring the fire under control.
“I salute their bravery. Never before in the history of the country have fireman discharged their duties with such dedication and commitment despite the gravest danger to their lives,” he said.
The army is also working out compensation packages for both the military firemen and the civilian labourers who died or were injured in the incident.