Fayaz Bukhari
Srinagar, Apr 1: Gen-eral Officer Commanding (GOC) of Srinagar based 15 Corps of Army, Lt General S K Dua, today said that infiltration attempts by militants may go up in the coming months but stressed that army is ready to deal with any challenge.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a function at Baramulla in North Kashmir, Lt General Dua said, as snow starts melting on the mountain peaks there is possibility of increased infiltration.
“As it happens every year, you all know it happens every year. As the snow starts melting there is possibility of increase in the infiltration. But, I assure you that Army is ready to deal with it. We are always ready and readiness gets better. We are ready for any challenge”, said GOC.
Lt General Dua said there are around 200 militants operating in Kashmir and their morale is down as security forces in recent months eliminated their top leadership.
“There are around 200 terrorists who are operating in Kashmir, but I assure you that their morale is down because in recent months, the top leaders of all the three organizations have been killed. As per intercepts they are facing lot of crisis”, said the GOC.
When asked about the plans of the security forces to deal with the Fidayeen in Kashmir, Lt General Dua said that for Army it is important to neutralize every militant. “It is important for us to neutralize all terrorists. We keep building intelligence about them. All the security forces are working in perfect synergy and coordination with each other. We have always been effective and continue to be effective”, he said.
The Army Commander said that Army is heavily deployed in Jammu and Kashmir and they need firing ranges in all three regions of the State for which civil administration will provide them the place.
“In Jammu and Kashmir Army is heavily deployed and they need firing ranges for training. Tosamaidan was handed over to the Government as the people needed it. We cleared it of the bombs and it is now with the civil authorities. We need ranges in Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh and civil administration is looking at it, where they can provide it to us”, said the GOC.
On response of the Army to China building roads near Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), Lt General Dua said that Indian Army has border road network plan and they are following the road map.
“Across, one main road is being constructed, and everyone knows about it. From our side, we built a road network as per plan and we increase the road length every year, whether it is Kargil or Kashmir. We go ahead as per that plan”, said the GOC.
Lt General Dua said that Army’s effort has been to pay rent to the owners of the land occupied by Army but there are some land dispute cases where rent is pending. “It is always our effort, if we have occupied land anywhere. The rent, whatever, the Revenue authorities have fixed should be paid to them. We always make our efforts that the rent should be paid to them. There are some problems, they have to give Khasra numbers to the Revenue authorities and the ownership papers. There are land dispute where there is this problem of rent not being paid. We are always in favour of providing them rent. It has to be given by the government”, he added.
The GOC said that Army helps people in the remote areas where there is no presence of civil administration. “You know the Army is deployed in remote areas of Kashmir where administration has no representatives but Army is there. Army has equipment, expertise and training that is why we have helped the civilian population during avalanches.
“Recently in two separate incidents in Tanghdar area at Nastan Chun Pass, we rescued over 100 people who were trapped in between avalanches. Two months ago, we rescued two youth in Macchil sector who were buried under an avalanche. Army always helps in avalanche rescue as we have a High Altitude Warfare School, which is of international standards. We have lot of equipment and our intention, as you know is to serve the people in any part of the country whether it is Kolkata or Kashmir. Army is always in the forefront of helping people in disasters”, he said.
Lt General SK Dua said that Army is setting up 70 youth clubs in Kashmir to engage the youth and provide them better environment. “Army has made a beginning to open 70 Chinar clubs and 4-5 have already been set up. They are future leaders and we have made an effort to open Chinar youth clubs. The objective is to provide better environment for youth”, he said.
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