Ahead of the formal opening of the NSG hub at Kolkata,the commandos putting up at the hostel at Yubabharati Krirangan at Salt Lake,are fighting a battle they werent quite prepared for the squalid conditions they are forced to make do with. An acute shortage of drinking water coupled with the mosquitoes infesting the accommodation have rendered the heat even more unbearable. The unit,comprising 241 commandos and six officers,will be operationalised on Wednesday at a ceremonial function,where state chief secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti will inaugurate the hub in the presence of Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen and NSG DG,NPS Aulakh. The jawans as well as the officers are quite dissatisfied with the living conditions. It is very hot here. There is also a dearth of drinking water. Foul stench from the bathroom disturbs us a lot. When there is the call of duty we plunge in without caring for our lives. But we are not used to this kind of situation, an officer who requested anonymity,told The Indian Express. The state government has promised to take action in the matter. I have told them to write to the SDO,Bidhannagar,to provide them with more water and I have also told them to send me a copy of that letter. And I have asked the Yubabharati authorities to provide them with more fans, Sen,who visited the unit last week,told The Indian Express. The hub is going to come up on a 25-acre plot belonging to the Airport Authority of India at Badu in North 24 Parganas district,10 kms away from Dum Dum airport. At present the survey of the plot is going on. Soon construction will begin and we hope it will be completed in three-four months time, Sen further said. Kolkata and Hyderabad will be two other cities which will have,apart from the regional hub,a training centre in the model of the NSGs existing one at Manesar,Haryana. For the training centre the state government has earmarked a 1000-acre land belonging to the Defence Ministry at Barrackpore in North 24 Parganas. Union Home Minister P Chidambaram decided to set up the hubs after the Mumbai terrorist attack on November 26 when a 12 hour delay in ferrying NSG commandos from Delhi to Mumbai exacerbated the loss of lives and placed the commandos at a strategic disadvantage.
