Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 31

The fire at the Army’s Central Ammunition Depot (CAD) in Pulgaon near Nagpur, the latest in the string of such incidents over the past many years, ought to be a wakeup call for the government over the manner in which ammunition is stored at defence installations across the country.While a series of reports by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) as well as Parliament’s Standing Committee on Defence have pointed out certain deficiencies in the firefighting and safety mechanisms, heavy encroachment around many such depots have compounded safety issues.Only a few months ago, CAG had observed that ammunition depots were functioning with risk of fire accident as the equipment and manpower were not held as per the requirement and authorisation. In eight selected depots, the deficiency of firefighting staff and main firefighting equipment was 47 and 65 per cent, respectively, during 2008-13, CAG pointed out in its report.Over the past two decades, there have been a number of fire incidents, both at ammunition depots as well as during mobilisation or hostilities, resulting in destruction of ammunition worth several thousand crore rupees.The scale of firefighting equipment and authorisation of firefighting staff was last revised by the government in March 2004. Steps for revision scales and manpower were initiated by the Director General Ordnance Services in November 2011, but could not be finalised, CAG observed.Further, the deficiency in storage accommodation of ammunition with reference to authorisation of war wastage reserves was 57 per cent, while 18 per cent ammunition was stored in temporary accommodation. According to DRDO’s Centre for Environment and Explosive Safety, which prescribes norms for storage of explosives based on storage, transport and explosive committee regulations and UN classification, there is no scope for any storage in temporary accommodation.

Less space, encroachment raise safety concerns

• Heavy encroachment around many ammunition depots and unabated construction in the notified areas has compounded safety issues
• The deficiency in storage accommodation of ammunition with reference to authorisation of war wastage reserves stands at 57 per cent
• 18 per cent of it is stored in temporary accommodation. According to safety norms, there is no scope for any storage in temporary accommodation