Return
to Story Page
To print: Select File and then Print from your
browser's menu
Swati Chaturvedi
BHONDSI, DEC 8: The Border Security Force (BSF) is supposed to guard the country's boundaries. But it's not even been able to protect its own camp in Bhondsi, Haryana. Worse, the alleged encroacher is former prime minister Chandra Shekhar's ashram.
While a sign which says `out of bounds' stands in front of the BSF training camp located on 190 acres in Bhondsi, a part of it is being encroached by Chandra Shekhar's Bharat Yatra Kendra.
A ten-room yatralay (rest house) has been constructed on a two-acre plot belonging to the BSF. The rest house is surrounded by a well manicured lawn with extensive landscaping. At present, eight ``supporters'' of the former prime minister are staying there. A lone BSF sentry stands barely 100 metres away, trying to prevent further encroachment.
A hillock in the camp which forms part of the firing range has also been taken over by inmates of the VVIP ashram. Vantage points around the BSF installation have also been encroached. This has given rise to fears of accidentalinjuries since the range is used for testing and firing practice with AK 47s, medium machine guns (MMGs) and self-loading rifles (SLRs).
In a complaint to the Deputy Commissioner, Gurgoan in February, the BSF said that its ``sensitive establishment is being kept under unauthorised surveillance by the anti-social elements.'' But with no redress in sight from the Haryana authorities, the BSF, sources say, has decided to resort to legal measures to get back possession of its land.
The BSF has repeatedly demanded that the Haryana land authorities carry out a survey of the land to establish the extent of encroachment. The BSF has also complained to the Ministry of Home Affairs, which has, in turn, written to the authorities in Gurgaon. Despite the intervention, the survey is yet to be conducted.
Official sources say that in November, 1996 the Sub Divisional Magistrate of Gurgaon even refused to acknowledge an order of the Deputy Commissioner (Gurgoan) for the survey. When contacted, officials in the DC'soffice refused to comment.
BSF officials maintain that having lost the battle for the yatralay and the firing range, the force now fears `defeat' at outskirts of the camp's boundaries. A 13-acre plot bought from Haryana government in 1997 and earmarked to construct barracks for jawans is now facing the threat of encroachment, they say. They add that the ashram inmates have twice destroyed the fence put up by the BSF around 13-acre plot.
When contacted, Chandra Shekhar said he did not even know that the BSF camp was situated next to his ashram. ``All these claims are being made to malign me,'' he said.``I do not know why people cannot appreciate what I have created? All these claims are motivated by envy.''
The Indian Express then faxed a detailed questionnaire to the former prime minister, who authorised his political secretary H.N. Sharma to reply on his behlaf. Sharma explained that some huts had, indeed, come up on the BSF land where a 105-year-old `Swamiji' originally lived. ``ChandraShekharji had merely helped him by refurbishing the hut,'' he said.
Sharma, however, denied that this was a case of landgrabbing and said, if need be, they were willing to return the piece of land which the BSF was claiming as theirs.
BSF officials say the firing range and training camp has been in Bhondsi since 1975 and batches of over 300 BSF jawans are given round-the-clock training. The firing range is used by Delhi Police and Central Reserve Police Force as well.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
------------------------------------------------------------
This story was printed from Net Express located at http://www.expressindia.com. Net Express provides a portal to India, with news from The Indian Express and The Financial Express along with sites on travel and tourism, the entertainment industry, the power sector, the environment and much more.
------------------------------------------------------------