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Josy Joseph in New Delhi
The Mirdhwal ammunition depot in Rajasthan, where a fire has been raging since morning on Thursday, is a small dump with no grass and ammunition stored in the open.
Army sources said Mirdhwal is a small depot where ammunition is stored mostly for the training of a strike corps based in the Rajasthan deserts. There is no grass around the depot, they confirmed. At Bharatpur, where a fire devastated over Rs 2,000 crore worth of ammunition last year, the tall dry grass around the depot was blamed for the blaze.
Like numerous other depots in the country, at Mirdhwal too the ammunition is stored in the open, without sheds. At Mirdhwal, the army stores mainly tank shells, rockets and missiles. But the dump is a small one, smaller than the ones at Bharatpur and Pathankot, where fires broke out earlier this year.
A spokesman said the army is studying the report of the court of inquiry into the fire at Bharatpur, while the report on the fire at Pathankot is yet to be received. "We are taking precautions to improve safety at the depots," he added.
Asked why no one was being punished for these repeated mishaps, he said, "If the reasons for the fires are beyond an individual, how can we punish anyone?"
Army sources admitted that the main reason for the fire was the careless manner of storage. "We have not properly invested in storage of ammunition. It is a costly business. In numerous depots, ammunitions are lying in the open," they said.
Estimates put the worth of the total ammunition stored in the country at Rs 50,000 crore [Rs 500 billion]. "It cannot be far off that figure," the sources said.
At large ammunition depots, thousands of crores worth of ammunition is stored. At Pulgaon, near Wardha, at the central ordinance depot, which is the largest in the country, several thousand crores worth of ammunition is stored for distribution.
In the smaller depots, there is usually ammunition worth Rs 100 crore to Rs 300 crore. And at the smallest field unit depots for a battalion strength force, there is ammunition worth about Rs 30 crore.
EARLIER REPORTS: Major fire in Rajasthan ammunition depot Mamoon depot losses put at Rs 150 million Fire at Bharatpur ordnance depot claims 3 lives
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