By IANS,
Kolkata : The elite National Security Guard (NSG) has finally got its long-awaited land at Badu in Madhyamgram near Kolkata for setting up its eastern regional hub.
Over two years after the hub was operationalised at its temporary camp at Salt Lake Stadium, the painstaking search for a permanent facility came to an end with the state government and the commando force officials agreeing on the location, about 18 km from the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in North 24 Parganas district.
Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram will lay the foundation stone for the hub Sep 21, official sources said. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is contesting an assembly by-poll, has taken permission of the Election Commission to attend the programme.
Earlier it was decided that the hub will be spread over 20 acres with 250 commandos posted there.
However, Saturday, there was no official word about the quantum of land needed.
A 35-acre area has been earmarked at Rajarhat in the city’s north eastern outskirts for setting up a training centre for the commandos, a source said.
“The hub being close to the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, the response time of NSG to any terrorist attack in east and north-east India would be minimum,” said the source.
After the Nov 26, 2008, Mumbai terror strike, the centre decided to set up four regional NSG hubs at Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata so that the commandos can be deployed to tackle an emergency situation in quick time.