The Army hopes to complete the task of cleaning up and detonating some 3,500 live bombs found in containers of imported metal scrap a few years ago by this month-end.
The recovery of bombs — artillery shells, hand grenades, mortars and rocket — estimated to carry 500-600 kg of explosives from among the scrap in Delhi's Inland Container Depot (ICD) in 2004 caused a sensation.
“Operation Sahyog'' began in May this year to destroy the munitions and is being carried by the Bomb Disposal Company.
Briefing correspondents on the five-stage painstaking operation here, Major-General Manik Sabherwal, Chief Engineer of the Western Command, said since the request came from the Delhi government in 2009, time was spent on planning, getting necessary clearances from the authorities in Delhi, Haryana and the Centre and locating a safe place to detonate the bombs.
Special pits
Since May 11, every morning, around 3.30 a.m. these bombs were taken on a 19-km journey in sand-filled trucks from the ICD terminal in Tughlakabad to the Air Force's Tilpat firing range at Faridabad in Haryana, where special pits were dug to carry-out out detonation.
The trucks were accompanied by detachments of the Central Reserve Police Force, local police, fire and ambulance services. Every day, some 100 to 200 munitions were handled.
“So far we have destroyed some 2,800 munitions and hope to complete the task by the end of this month,'' Colonel Vivek Dawar said adding that it included the fifth and final stage of clearing and sanitising both the ICD and the ranges.
Gen. Sabherwal said safety and security were accorded highest priority as there was no room for complacency or over-confidence. In fact, the team members who carried out the task were rotated so that they did not lower their guard.
The complexity of the task was compounded, as the exterior of the munitions were rusted. There was also grass/vegetation growth around the shells. Technicians in bomb suits employed tools such as remote-operated vehicles and telescopic manipulators to segregate the munitions for the final journey.
The officers said the source of these bombs could not be determined as the casings were rusted and markings not clear. This was the second time the Army was asked to undertake such an exercise after steel traders/factories went in for imported scrap available at lower commercial value. In 2004, it cleared 320 bombs after one of them exploded in a steel factory at Ghaziabad. Later, the Army was asked by the government to conduct checks in other depots that led to recovery of a cluster in Ludhiana.
