M A I N   N E W S

TRIBUNE SPECIAL
Violate law, then take political cover
Amardeep Bhattal
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 29
“...Man cannot continue to pick nature’s pocket. He cannot raise multi-storeyed monsters of steel and cement at every place.” Making these observations while delivering the landmark judgement in the Anandgarh case on March 28, Mr Justice Jawahar Lal Gupta and Mr Justice N.K Sud of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, also castigated the Punjab government. “The state has not shown even scant regard for salutary provisions of the statute....The state government has failed to consider the objection raised by the Union Ministries of Defence and Urban Development...There is suspicion surrounding the action of the state government ...” remarked the learned Judges while allowing a bunch of writ petitions by affected villagers challenging the project.

And 20 days after this historic judgement, another action of the Punjab Government has raised suspicion. On April 17, the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, called on the Union External Affairs Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, who also holds the Defence portfolio, to extract a commitment from him regarding the shifting of the army ammunition “dump” at Baddowal on the Ludhiana-Ferozepore road. Although Mr Badal sought to project the safety aspect of Ludhiana while pleading for the shifting of the Army base, it is probably a move to appease a strong lobby of property dealers and influential businessmen with an eye on the coming Assembly elections. These influential property dealers and businessmen have invested crores in huge marriage palaces next to the Army base in gross violation of the Works of Defence Act, 1903.

But is it merely a “dump” as it has been made out to be? Facts speak otherwise. Spread over 8 km on either side of the highway, the military area is a full-fledged cantonment. Though vested interests prefer to refer to it as a “dump” to make it look insignificant, the Baddowal military area, which is strategically located with the Halwara Air Force base some distance away, is officially 17 Field Ammunition Depot of the Indian Army. It houses an Air Defence Unit (ADU), which provides protective air cover not only to the Halwara Air Force base but also to Ludhiana city. The cantonment includes an administrative wing housing the offices of senior Army officers, the Military Engineer Service wing under the charge of a Garrison Engineer, officers’ bungalows, family quarters of Army personnel posted there, MES family quarters, CSD Canteen, Wet Canteen, MI Room, religious institutions, health club, rows of residential flats and the Officers’ Mess, besides well-maintained playgrounds. A lush green park solely maintained by the Army personnel lies on the other side of the highway, officially State Highway 18, linking Ludhiana to Ferozepore. The camouflaged dumps under a thick canopy of trees and greenery are just behind it and a newly laid rail track running right into the cantonment makes the ferrying of heavy consignments from Baddowal railway station easier. The cantonment also houses a Kendriya Vidyalaya affiliated to the CBSE which imparts education to more than 600 children of serving personnel and ex-servicemen besides the children of civilians from nearby villages.

Seventeen FAD, came into existence after the middle of the last century and the site was selected after a careful study of the area by defence experts as it was at a safe distance from the city of Ludhiana and strategically located. The Works of Defence Act, 1903, which stipulates that no construction should be allowed within 1000 yards of a defence establishment has been applicable to it ever since its establishment several decades ago.

The Army base played an important role during the India-Pakistan war. With Baddowal railway station situated just behind, transportation, storage and timely despatch of ammunition and other defence material to the Punjab and Rajasthan frontiers was a major factor in meeting the enemy challenge during war time.

The location of the Air Defence Unit at the Army base proved to be a boon during war. It not only provided protective cover to 17 FAD, but also to the Halwara Air base and Ludhiana city, keeping the zone safe from enemy air raids. Seventeen FAD is directly connected by rail and road with border areas of Ferozepore as it lies on the Ludhiana-Ferozepore section of the Northern Railway.

During the period of militancy,the defence authorities, in view of the heightened threat perception, acquired a large chunk of land next to the military area at Baddowal to establish the Indo-Tibetan Border Police headquarters.The establishment of the ITBP complex which today serves as the headquarters of 11th Battalion, was necessitated due to foolproof security requirements for the sensitive defence installation. Incidentally, during the period of militancy, an Army jawan posted at the cantonment gate was shot at and deprived of his weapon in the early nineties. The ITBP complex not only houses the offices and bungalows of senior officers but also has an administrative wing, mess, playgrounds and residential flats for families of the para-military personnel.

Till the eighties, the cantonment was surrounded by green fields. Farmers of adjoining villages, including Ayali Kalan, Baddowal, Jhande and Bains, tilled their land and in the post-harvest season, allowed the Army men to take over the barren fields for their annual exercises when trenches were dug and heavy weapons were deployed. During Operation Brasstacks anti-aircraft guns and other heavy weaponry were deployed to counter any enemy threat.

The post-Operation Bluestar period saw the arrival of a large number of migrants who preferred to settle in the vicinity of Ludhiana city. A boom in real estate followed. Prosperous businessmen and builders, who arrived on the scene, started eyeing the farmers’ land in the prohibited area. Soon many of these farmers from Ayali Kalan, Threeke, Jhande and Baddowal were lured into parting with their ancestral property by these property dealers and businessmen. What followed was a complete disregard for law by the new landlords, in connivance with the civil authorities. Boards displaying warnings against construction within 1,000 yards of the the army base were removed or conveniently ignored. Although constructions mushroomed, the civil authorities chose to look the other way.

The Army authorities groped in the dark in the absence of any help from the district administration. Although more than 300 FIRs were filed against the encroachers, no action was forthcoming probably due to the immense political clout of the property dealers and businessmen. The Army was indeed helpless. All land records were with the civil administration. The police force was also a mute spectator in the face of political pressure.

The freshly purchased tracts of land adjoining the Army base were converted into resorts and marriage palaces. The night scene became scary. Throwing all safety precautions to the winds, the sprawling marriage palaces and resorts adjoining 17 Field Ammunition Depot were illuminated at night for marriage parties which continued well past midnight. The practice continues. Despite the area being highly sensitive, brightly coloured bulbs light up the night sky. The consequences of an enemy air raid now is anybody’s guess.

Taking suo motu notice of the illegal constructions, which posed a direct threat to the vital defence installation, especially after the Kargil operations, the Punjab and Haryana High Court, issued notice to the Ludhiana Additional Deputy Commissioner, asking him to explain how the marriage palaces were allowed to come up within 1,000 yards of 17 FAD, in gross violation of the Works of Defence Act,1903. On March 20,2001, the high court came down heavily on the law violators and in its significant judgement a Division Bench of the high court comprising Mr Justice N.K. Sodhi and Mr Justice N.K. Sud, while dismissing a bunch of writ petitions, ordered the demolition of all such illegal constructions within 1,000 yards of 17 Field Ammunition Depot. The court also ordered the Chief Secretary to inquire into the lapses of the Ludhiana district administration in allowing the illegal constructions to come up, fix responsibility and take suitable action against the erring officials. The compliance report is to be submitted in the court by September 30.

Having lost the battle in the high court and with little hope during appeal before the apex court, the powerful lobby devised a new strategy — seek a political solution! Politicians of various hues and shades with vested interests, civic officials and others, instead of supporting the move for initiating action against those who had endangered the vital Army installation, started harping on the idea of getting 17 FAD shifted instead! Their stance —the cantonment was a threat to Ludhiana city (which incidentally is several kilometres away) and adjoining villages!

Following the high court order, a group of persons, mostly affected businessmen, started making rounds of the adjoining villages to whip up anti-cantonment feelings. “Your village will soon be reduced to rubble,” they said while trying to incite villagers at Ayali Kalan recently. A meeting was organised in the village where some sarpanches were also invited to elicit support for their campaign.

However, according to defence sources, there has never been a question of uprooting the villages which have been in existence for centuries. Residents of all these villages have always enjoyed harmonious relations with Army men posted at Baddowal. Many local villagers are currently employed in the cantonment, especially in the MES wing. Only those persons who have violated the Works of Defence Act, 1903, by making constructions within the 1000-yard prohibited zone after the establishment of the cantonment, face action.

The affected businessmen, through their political connections, also elicited the support of the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal,who, instead of ensuring that steps are taken to comply with the court’s orders, supported the move to shift 17 FAD at a meeting with Union Minister Jaswant Singh in New Delhi on April 17. Earlier, representatives of the state government at a civil-military liaison conference at Western Command headquarters at Chandimandir in January had reportedly indicated that it was difficult to get the encroachers evicted as the process was cumbersome. However, the high court, in its verdict on the Anandgarh case, clearly stated that “the mere fact that the government finds the procedure prescribed by the Act and the rules to be lengthy or cumbersome and such as can result in delay cannot be a ground to avoid obedience to the provisions of law. The courts cannot allow time taken in complying with the provisions to become the graveyard of good laws.”

What would the shifting of 17 FAD entail? A whopping sum running into several hundred crores, all from the public exchequer, to relocate the Army cantonment and the ITBP headquarters besides jeopardising the security environment in the entire region. And that only to appease a small group of influential persons who themselves violated the law to endanger not only the Army base but also the entire region by their thoughtless actions.

Meanwhile, a panicky Ludhiana district administration, in compliance with the high court order, has already started issuing notices to owners of these illegal constructions. Details of the correspondence which took place between various authorities over the controversy are also being sent to the Chief Secretary.