IAF seeks action against illegal structures near Digaru Airforce Station

Guwahati, Mar 13: The Indian Air Force has raised alarm over unauthorised constructions around the Digaru Air Force Station, prompting a comprehensive review of the structures in the vicinity of the critical defence installation.

Official sources said the Station Administrative Officer of Air Force Station, Digaru, had sent a petition to the district administration intimating about the "unauthorised constructions."

The government, through a notification in 2010, had banned construction activities and planting of trees "within 900 meters from the crest of the outer periphery of the Air Force Station."

A joint survey was recently carried out by the IAF and officials of the district administration, which detected over 900 structures, including houses, shops, etc., within the restricted area.

Co-District Commissioner Biswajit Saikia is learnt to have initiated legal action, and around 100 notices have been served so far. "We will be issuing the individual notices phase-wise. The owners have been called for a hearing. Any structure constructed after 2010 will be treated as illegal," Saikia said. The hearings on the notices are expected to commence next week.

In a separate order, the Co-District Commissioner has also prohibited new constructions, structural modifications, and tree plantations within a 900-meter radius of the IAF station "without prior permission from the competent authority," warning prosecution in case of violation.

Located around 35 km from Guwahati, the Air Force Station is a strategic combat logistics support hub for the entire Eastern Air Command, which came into existence in 1963 in the wake of the Chinese aggression.

Initially, the installation was a Forward Supply Depot, which housed an 'Explosive Storage Park (XSP) and 'Mechanical Transport Repair & Storage Units.'. It became a full-fledged station in 1969 and came to be known as 51 Air Store Park (ASP).

By

Rituraj Borthakur