CM tells minister to clear Army base hurdle

TNN, KALIMPONG, 3 September 2013 : The hurdle over land acquisition for the country's largest Army aviation corps base is set to be cleared. The base will stretch over nearly 670 acres in Sarugaon and Damdim in Jalpaiguri district.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee met GOC of the Sukna-based 33 Corps at the Kalimpong Circuit House on Monday evening. At the hour-long meeting, which North Bengal development minister Gautam Deb described as fruitful, the CM is learnt to have given her final clearance for the strategic project and asked Deb and others to facilitate acquisition of the land, which comprises mainly waste land and tea garden.

Lt General K J Singh, commander of the 33 Corps, was accompanied by senior staff members. The meeting was also attended by top police and administrative officials. The project had run into the usual land acquisition hurdle, but with the Army pointing out that at least 10,000 jobs would be generated for the local people from the project, the CM showed keen interest in clearing the hurdles.

The base, which in Army parlance is termed a 'composite aviation base', will house fixed wing fighters and transport aircrafts as well as helicopters and, at a later stage, unmanned aerial vehicles or drones. The Army will invest Rs 1,322 crore on building this base for the new strike corps being raised for the Chinese frontiers along Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.