Govt sanctions ₹1,487 cr for Army to boost perimeter security at bases

NEWDELHI: The defence ministry has sanctioned ₹1,487 crore to the Army to fortify its bases in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), the northeast and several other places in the country to plug security gaps and fortify them from any terror attacks, official sources said on Saturday.

Clearing the project, defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman has set a deadline of 10 months for the Army to carry out the development.

The Army headquarters has been told to monitor implementation of the project, sources in the army said.

The sanction to the project comes amid heightened hostilities between the Indian and Pakistani armies along the Line of Control (LOC) and the International Border (ib) in Jammu and Kashmir as well as several terror attacks on military installations in the state.

Perimeter security will be strengthened at Army bases under six commands, the sources said.

A security audit of military bases was carried out on the recommendation of a committee headed by Lt Gen Philip Campose which was set up after the terror attack on the Pathankot air force base in 2016.

The committee was asked to recommend measures to beef up security at the military bases across the country.

Following the security audit, revised standard operating procedures (SOPS) were sent to the commands of all three services to revamp their security management, including putting in place a multi-tier security structure.

A total of 3,000 sensitive bases, including 600 highly sensitive installations of the Army, Navy and the Air Force were identified in need of improvements by the forces, months after the Pathankot attack.

In July last year, the government delegated “substantial” financial powers to the Army, the Navy and the Indian Air Force to strengthen perimeter security at sensitive bases across the country.