NEW DELHI – The Defence Ministry has sanctioned Rs 1,487 crore to the Armyto fortify its bases in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, North East and severalother places to plug their security gaps and protect them from any terrorattacks, official sources said today.
Clearing the project, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has set adeadline of 10 months for the Army to carry it out. The Army headquartershas been told to monitor implementation of the project, they said.
The sanction to the project comes amid heightened hostilities betweenIndian and Pakistani armies along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmirand several terror attack targeting military installations.
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 ofa committee headed by Lt Gen Philip Campose which was set up after thedaring terror attack on the Pathankot air force base in 2016.
The committee was asked to recommend measures to beef up security at themilitary bases.
Following the security audit, revised standard operating procedures (SOPs)were sent to the commands of all three services to revamp their securitymanagement, including putting in place a multi-tier security structure.
A total of 3,000 sensitive bases, including 600 highly sensitiveinstallations of the Army, Navy and the Air Force were identified by theforces months after the attack on Pathankot air base.
Separately, in July last year, the government had delegated “substantial”financial powers to the Army, the Navy and the Indian Air Force tostrengthen perimeter security at sensitive bases across the country.