The Army is awaiting clearance from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to conduct training in jungle warfare to a brigade size force in Chhattisgarh. The land for setting up the training area, also called the “manoeuvre range,” has been identified at Narainpur in Chhattisgarh and approval accorded in principle.
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Central Command Lt. Gen. V.K. Ahluwalia said this at a press conference at the Command's headquarters here on Friday.
Lt. Gen. Ahluwalia said the objective of setting up the training range was “only to impart training and not anti-Naxal operations.”
The area under the Central Command, which encompasses Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar, and parts of Madhya Pradesh, were affected by left wing extremism, but presently the Army was not mandated to operate against such elements. Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand were the other two States in the Command.
The Army's role in this context was advisory and providing assistance in capacity building to the Union government. Though the Army was not involved in anti-Naxal operations, it had imparted training to about 50,000 police and paramilitary force personnel in such operations.
The Army was trying to set up training areas since 2006 as the existing ones were shrinking owing to rapid urbanisation.
The Commander admitted that saving the Army land from encroachment posed a big challenge as the Central Command comprised 25 military cantonments (40 per cent of the total cantonments in the country) and 76 military stations. Illustrating his point, he said a civil colony was planned before 1994 in a rifle range in the trans-Gomti area of Lucknow. The Army rifle range on about 193 acres had existed there since 1957.
“Consultations are on with the State government for finding a mutual solution. Similarly, in the Arjunganj firing range, also in Lucknow, which was a notified area, construction activity had started,” he said adding the issue was raised at the highest level and a solution would emerge soon.
48th Raising Day
The Command is celebrating its 48th Raising Day anniversary celebrations. It was the Chinese aggression in 1962 that led to the creation of the Central Command. It came into being on May 1, 1963. In fact, prior to May 1, 1963, Lucknow was the headquarters of the Eastern Command. Subsequently, Kolkata (then Calcutta) was made the headquarters of the reorganised Eastern Command. In 1963, four States were there in the Central Command. Today it has seven States and 34 regimental training centres and military colleges.
