Japanese war bunkers, constructed during Japanese occupation of the Andaman and Nicobar islands during the World War II, will be revived to bolster security.
The Andaman and Nicobar Command has taken a decision to operationalise the high-security bunkers located in strategic areas of the islands cluster. The Commander-in-Chief of the tri-services command, Vice-Admiral P K Chatterjee told a press conference recently, "The bunkers can significantly boost the security apparatus, if brought into operation."
Chatterjee said that the Command was struggling to augment the defence infrastructure owing to demanding clearance procedures of the government. But the norms for smaller land acquisitions like that of Japanese bunkers in civilian areas, if relaxed by the government, would strengthen the security mechanism. The Japanese forces during their occupation of the islands had constructed a chain of war bunkers at strategic locations. Intended for surveillance, the structures are reportedly secure from air strikes.
A majority of the bunkers in the civilian areas are currently in ruins because of the administration's apathy and failure to maintain them. Many of them have been reduced to garbage dump yards, some are home to anti-social elements and the others have been demolished unlawfully like the one near a prominent resort at South Point. "Heaps of garbage, liquor bottles etc can be seen openly dumped inside some bunkers located near the Water Sports Complex and Dugnabad," residents of Aberdeen Bazar said.
