SHIMLA: Poor selection of site by the state government is going to deprive lakhs of soldiers, ex-servicemen and their families of a canteen stores depot (CSD) in the state, as the Union defence ministry has rejected 188 kanals of land in Una after finding it prone to floods. The ministry has made it clear that even if another site is selected, the proposal will be considered depending upon availability of budget and manpower.
There is no depot in the state and government has been pursuing the issue vigorously with the Centre over the past one year. In May, chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal had even written a letter to Union defence minister A K Antony on the issue. The state has 1,20,200 serving soldiers, 1,02,739 ex-servicemen, 1,057 war widows, 27,367 other widows and 7,50,804 other dependents of ex-servicemen and serving soldiers.
At present CSD supplies come from depots located in Punjab and Haryana. "Representatives of ex-servicemen and military commanders had been repeatedly raising the issue of setting up a depot in the state and it was proposed that it be located in Una since the area was well connected with broad gauge railway line," sources said.
Identification of 188 kanals at Baned, in Una district, had cleared the path for opening a CSD bulk supply store, a first in this region. The proposed bulk supply store was estimated to cost around Rs 40 crore and was likely to cater to 50 CSD canteens in the region.
But the hope was dashed on Monday, when the Union defence minister informed Parliament that land offered by the state government was not found to be suitable, since it also included rivulets and nullahs which are prone to flooding during the rainy season. The minister gave the information while replying to a query of Virender Kashyap, MP from Himachal, in Lok Sabha.
"It is not possible at this stage to anticipate the time likely to be taken for setting up the depot at Una in view of the fact that the Himachal Pradesh government is yet to identify another piece of suitable land. Once a suitable alternate land is offered by the state government the proposal will be considered depending upon availability of budget and manpower," he informed. Source: TOI News.
There is no depot in the state and government has been pursuing the issue vigorously with the Centre over the past one year. In May, chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal had even written a letter to Union defence minister A K Antony on the issue. The state has 1,20,200 serving soldiers, 1,02,739 ex-servicemen, 1,057 war widows, 27,367 other widows and 7,50,804 other dependents of ex-servicemen and serving soldiers.
At present CSD supplies come from depots located in Punjab and Haryana. "Representatives of ex-servicemen and military commanders had been repeatedly raising the issue of setting up a depot in the state and it was proposed that it be located in Una since the area was well connected with broad gauge railway line," sources said.
Identification of 188 kanals at Baned, in Una district, had cleared the path for opening a CSD bulk supply store, a first in this region. The proposed bulk supply store was estimated to cost around Rs 40 crore and was likely to cater to 50 CSD canteens in the region.
But the hope was dashed on Monday, when the Union defence minister informed Parliament that land offered by the state government was not found to be suitable, since it also included rivulets and nullahs which are prone to flooding during the rainy season. The minister gave the information while replying to a query of Virender Kashyap, MP from Himachal, in Lok Sabha.
"It is not possible at this stage to anticipate the time likely to be taken for setting up the depot at Una in view of the fact that the Himachal Pradesh government is yet to identify another piece of suitable land. Once a suitable alternate land is offered by the state government the proposal will be considered depending upon availability of budget and manpower," he informed. Source: TOI News.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.