Punjab and Haryana Governor-cum-UT Administrator Kaptan Singh Solanki and Lt Gen KJ Singh, GOC-in-C, Western Command, during a Civil Military Liaison Conference at the Haryana Raj Bhawan in Chandigarh on Wednesday. A Tribune photograph
Ramkrishan Upadhyay,Tribune News Service,Chandigarh, February 17
The UT Administration and the IAF will carry out a joint survey to find a workable solution for providing a shorter route from Chandigarh to the international airport in Mohali.The Administration raised the issue during the Civil Military Liaison Conference held today at the Haryana Raj Bhawan under the chairmanship of Punjab and Haryana Governor-cum-UT Administrator Kaptan Singh Solanki.During the meeting, Solanki called for a joint survey of the area for an early resolution of the matter.The Administration presented three options in this connection.While UT officials pressed for the shortest route from the existing route to the airport, they also gave presentation of developing two other roads — one from the Sector 47 side and the other connecting with the airport road in Mohali. In the last two cases, additional land will have to be acquired by the Government of Punjab and the Chandigarh Administration.These two routes would require an additional detour of about 10-12 km for the residents of Chandigarh, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.However, if the first option is followed, the distance from the city airport to the international airport would be merely 0.7 km.The Chandigarh Administration has again proposed to build an underground tunnel to have direct connectivity to the international airport terminal in the area of Punjab. Under the proposal, the tunnel will pass through the runway and connect with the road to the airport in Chandigarh.A senior UT official said though this plan was discussed with the Airport Authority of India earlier and the latter supported it, it could not materialise. “So we have requested the IAF to look into the matter again as we have no other option,” the official said.While appreciating the role of armed forces, Solanki said a country could progress only if its citizens felt secure and were at peace. He emphasised the importance of holding such meetings regularly so that issues of the defence personnel and the civil administration did not remain unresolved for long.UT Finance Secretary Sarvjit Singh assured that the issue of allotment of land for a girls’ hostel, Armed Forces Tribunal and the primary wing of Kendriya Vidyalaya in Sector 47 would be resolved soon.Home Secretary Anurag Agarwal said as far as reservation and pay protection of the ex-servicemen on re-employment in the civil administration was concerned, the UT had already adopted the pattern followed in Punjab. Similar was the case as far as giving compensation and concessional benefits to the next of kin of deceased defence personnel was concerned.Lt Gen KJ Singh, GOC-in-C, Western Command, appreciated the cooperation extended by the Administration from time to time in dealing with the issues pertaining to defence forces promptly. Meanwhile, he expressed concern over the security of military establishments and the Air Force Base in the wake of terrorist attacks in the recent past.
Security, welfare matters discussed
Tribune News Service,Chandigarh, February 17
The annual Civil Military Liaison Conference (CMLC) between the Headquarters, Western Command, Chandimandir, and the Chandigarh Administration was held here today to discuss matters related to security, land, welfare and other matters of mutual interest.The meeting was co-chaired by Punjab and Haryana Governor-cum-UT Administrator Kaptan Singh Solanki and Lt Gen KJ Singh, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command. Senior civil functionaries from the UT Administration and military officers from the Command Headquarters attended the event.In his inaugural address, Vijay Dev, Adviser to the Administrator, highlighted the excellent rapport between civil and military officials in Chandigarh.Dev said the Western Command considered itself an intrinsic part of Chandigarh and would like to be actively associated with important social, cultural, recreational and sporting events being organised in the City Beautiful.The UT Adviser also appreciated the support provided by the Administration for organising events to commemorate the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the 1965 Indo-Pak War, which included display of military equipment and band, ‘raahgiri’ at Sukhna Lake and the Martyr’s Day commemoration at the Chandigarh War Memorial.