Indian Army starts disposing of 555 Gulf War missiles scrap, buried since 2004 in Uttarakhand

Patrampur, Udham Singh Nagar: The Indian Army has started the process of disposing of the 555 Gulf War missiles that were brought with scrap in 2004 to Jaspur in Udham Singh Nagar and was buried inside the ground near Patrampur police station.

The residents were demanding that the missiles be disposed of safely, so that it does not detonate and put people's lives at risk. This plea was heard by the defence ministry and the approval for the disposal of the missiles came on June 26.

Meanwhile, a team from the Indian Army, Lucknow, inspected the site and devised a method to get rid of the missile scrap.

The process has now begun as the 555 missiles brought in 16 containers and buried were taken out in special vehicles with sandbags. They will be disposed of on the banks of River Feeka, situated 4.5 km away from the site it was buried.

The missiles will be blown up inside the ground by means of controlled explosions and the scrap will thus be turned into dust.

Captain Vikas Malik of the Counter Explosives Device Unit, Indian Army, is leading the group of one junior commissioned officer (JCO) and 10 Jawans from Lucknow for the assignment that would take anywhere up to 10 days.

“The missiles would first be dug out from the ground where they have been buried since the past 14 years. They will then be transported to the disposal site on the banks of River Feeka," Captain Malik said, according to a report in The Hindustan Times.

The explosion will be conducted following the procedures laid down by the Indian Army. Captain Malik was a part also of the disposal of explosives at 55 places in Jammu in 2016-2017.

The scrap of Gulf War was brought from Tughlaqabad in Delhi to SD Steel Factory, Kashipur, for melting in 2004. It had 556 objects. One of the missiles had exploded on December 30, 2004 when it was being melted at the factory, resulting in the death of Satpal, a worker. Following this incident, the 555 missiles were buried in a plot near the Patrampur police station and were kept secure from tampering.

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