Army agrees to vacate some land near Jammu airport

Army today agreed to vacate some land near the airport and the University in Jammu while several joint committees have been formed to address other issues regarding transfer of land held by Army to the civil administration at various places in the state.
The Army was also requested to secure areas having landmines, in particular those which are adjacent to the farm or fields of the local inhabitants, along the International Border and the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu region, an official spokesman.
The decisions were taken at a Civil-Military Liaison (CML) meet chaired by Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and attended by Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh, top Army commanders, Chief Secretary B R Sharma, Director General of Police K Rajendra and senior civil officers.

The CML met after nearly two years as its last meeting took place in November 2013.
On the issue of transfer of state land adjoining the campus of Jammu University, the Army agreed in principle to provide the land, north of road adjoining the campus, for expansion of Jammu University precincts, the spokesman said.
He said it was decided that a high-level Committee would be constituted to work out the modalities for transfer of the said land.

The Divisional Commissioner, Jammu, was tasked to identify an alternate patch of land for the Army in lieu for the land it was parting from, for expansion of Jammu University within the next three months.

Regarding the issue of expansion of Jammu Airport, the Chief Minister was informed that the impediments had been removed for its much-needed extension.
The Divisional Commissioner informed the Chief Minister that the Army is on board to vacate the land in proximity to Jammu Airport, for which sanction of Ministry of Defence is awaited.