Army should hand over Bhujiya fort to state: Gadhavi

Ahmedabad, May 29 (UNI) The possession of the Bhujiya Fort, located at Bhuj town of Kutch district, should be handed over to State Revenue Authorities by the army, according to Kutch MP P S Gadhavi.

Mr Gadhavi wrote a letter to Union Defence Minister A K Antony yesterday and sought his directive for authorities concerned to hand over the possession to the state revenue authorities as the fort was not being used by the army anymore after the 2001 earthquake.

He said since it will not be of any use to the army even in the future, there is no purpose of keeping it in the possession of the army and should be given back to the state government to develop it as an earthquake memorial site.

Mr Gadhvi in his letter said, the fort was built 250 years back at Bhujiya Hill in Bhuj city and was taken by the army from civil authorities for safe dumping of arms and ammunitions.

He said after the 2001 earthquake, the state government has decided to preserve the damaged fort as an earthquake museum by undertaking plantation in the memory of more than 3,000 persons who had lost their lives during the earthquake.

Meanwhile, the fort issue has become a hot topic after the administration issued an eviction notice asking army to vacate it by May 21 but they did not heed the notice and continued to hold the place.

For the army the fort is of utmost strategic importance due its elevation in an otherwise flat terrain and it provides an uninterrupted view of the Rann border.

In September 1964, state government had allotted about 77 acres of the fort land to the local army at an annual rent of Rs 370. Since then, the Army has been using it as an ammunition depot.

UNI